On Monday, BIMCO and The Standard Club issued a warning regarding an alleged security breach in the Maritime Trade Information Sharing Center, Gulf of Guinea (MTISC-GoG), potentially resulting in the release of ships’ data to pirates.
The breach has not been officially confirmed, the Standard Club said, but BIMCO has recommended that vessels entering the area should “limit the provision of any information which would allow vessels to be identified or tracked.” Ships should still sign up for the center’s alerts, BIMCO said, but leaving out position information when entering the area “will allow continuity of shipping security in the region.
BIMCO also recommended continued use of standard vessel hardening and risk assessment measures to reduce the chance of a successful hijacking.
Printed guidance on the UKHO security area planning chart for the Gulf of Guinea suggests that ships’ masters are “strongly encouraged” to report in to the MTISC system upon entry and again at noon each day, and that vessels’ information will be held in “strict commercial confidence.”
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Via: http://maritime-executive.com/article/bimco-warns-of-security-breach-in-anti-piracy-program
