The keynote presentation was the SOS SaveOurSeafarers Campaign The World Maritime University's (WMU) International Conference on Piracy at Sea (ICOPAS) attracted a good international gathering of over 400 people this week in Malmo, Sweden.The keynote presentation on the second day was on the subject of the industry's SOS SaveOurSeafarers campaign. Bill Box, Secretary of the campaign's Steering Group gave delegates some background to SOS and an update of what it has achieved in its first 7 months.There were some useful insights offered from the hijacking in 2008 of the general cargo ship CEC Future which stayed under pirate control for 71 days. Gary Porter, Corporate Security Manager of Clipper Ferries/Ro-Ro, shared the lessons learned from this incident:Piracy is an industry - money is what counts.Information sharing is crucial.Prepare for the unexpected - a flexible approach is important.Prepare for the mental tiredness of all those involved.Prior preparation prevents poor performance.Cdr Martin Ewence, Maritime Security Advisor to EUNAVFOR, talked of the need for flexibility in dealing with the piracy scourge, so that naval forces and shipping interests can adapt to changing pirate tactics. It is vital that ship operators work on accordance with the latest Best Management Practice (BMP4), he stressed, adding ...
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