A planned legislation will allow up to six armed guards on a Greek-flagged ship sailing through pirate-infested waters.
According to the Greek Ministry of Security, an initiative has been taken to draft legislation for the embarkation of armed individuals on commercial ships,in order to improve safe sailing and crew safety aboard Greek ships crossing seas with increased piracy activity.
A spokeswoman for the UK Home Office said last month that a licensing scheme for armed protection on UK-flagged vessels would begin soon. The licences restrict the use of weapons to areas off the Somali coast, the Gulf of Aden, the Arabian Sea, and parts of the Indian Ocean.
The UK’s Transport Ministry said that it expected around half of the cargo ships that transit those waters to want to use armed guards.
According to figures from the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, there had been 409 attacks by pirates around the world this year, including 26 hijackings in Somalia, with 450 seafarers taken hostage.
See all the latest news from Greece and the world at Greekreporter.com. Contact our newsroom to report an update or send your story, photos and videos. Follow GR on Google News and subscribe here to our daily email!
