Introduction
The late 20th and early 21st centuries have witnessed a drastic shift in maritime security with the increase in piracy, especially the USS Cole, Limburg Tanker and Achille Lauro incidents having taken place in pre-reported High Risk Areas (HRAs) for piracy. These maritime attacks significantly increased the need for the deployment of naval forces within these pre-identified piracy regions. The Naval powers, being unable to combat the increased levels of modern piracy in the regions of Somalia, the Gulf of Aden, the Red Sea and the Indian Ocean, created a lacuna in the maritime industry.
Although the Naval Forces have dominated the maritime security industry for centuries, the gap in deployment and safeguarding vessels resulted in the creation of Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) and the employment of Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP), thus providing a safe and secure passage for merchant vessels to sail through in the regions identified as High Risk Areas (HRAs). This present economic model to combat piracy stems from the 16th century notion of privateering and operates on the premise of combatting piracy through the regions identified HRAs by employing PCASP as civilian security personnel to protect the vessel, cargo and crew onboard.
