Stephen Askins is a former Royal Marine and is now a partner with Ince & Co with international shipping as one of its core business areas.

In particular Stephen talks about the role that both he and Ince & Co play in Somali based piracy. He advises that often they become involved before vessels transit the high risk area. This is to assist owners to set up their systems ashore to cope with the unlikely eventuality of a vessel being seized by pirates.

The absolute need for vessels and seafarers to follow BMP is stress as is the advice to seafarers on what will happen to them if they and their vessel are hijacked.

As always prevention is the best solution, with the need for teamwork and extreme vigilance on the part of all in identifying likely hijack situations with emphasis on taking early action being critical in avoiding being seized.