Big Blue Arms

According to statements from the world’s biggest shipowner, AP Moller-Maersk will make more regular use of armed guards on tankers passing through the Gulf of Aden.

According to Maersk Tankers chief technical officer Steffen Jacobsen, this is a purely tanker-centered approach, and there are “no immediate plans” to extend the policy to containerships.

Given the potential scale and scope of the work, it seems likely that the job of guarding the big blue tanker fleet will probably have to be divided between several providers.

In line with industry Best Management Practice, the company has decided that as the vessels are slow and have a low freeboard, then they are at greater risk of attack.