The Maritime Administrator of the Republic of the Marshall Islands, the world’s third largest ship registry, has followed the lead of the US Maritime Administration (MARAD) in issuing an Advisory (Marine Safety Advisory No. 69-10) in response to the “explosive incident” experienced by the Marshall-Islands-flagged tanker M. STAR while transiting East in the Straits of Hormuz on the night of 27-28 July. Although the Advisory uses more diffident language, it provides support for classifying the event as maritime terrorism: “[T]he very suspicious activity of two small craft observed on the vessel’s radar and recorded by the ship’s voyage data recorder (VDR) and subsequent forensics tend toward supporting the belief that an unsuccessful terrorist bombing attempt was made on the M. STAR.”
The Advisory, dated August 17th, tracks MARAD Advisory 2010-08 in recommending that ships transiting the Straits “exercise the highest level of vigilance and caution, particularly during night transits with increased monitoring of small vessel and boat activity” and in advising Masters to report hostile or potentially hostile action to the COMUSNAVCENT Battlewatch (but, unlike MARAD’s Advisory, only after the Master conducts a threat assessment and “[a]s soon as the Master feels that a threat is developing”). On the other hand, MSA No. 69-10 goes further by requiring such reports be made to the Royal Navy’s Maritime Trade Organization (UKMTO) in Dubai as well. They “may also be relayed to” the US Navy’s Maritime Liaison Office (MARLO) in Bahrain. Hostile action or suspicious activity reports, “including apparent surveillance being conducted by small vessels and boats,” should be forwarded to the Marshall Islands Duty Officer “as soon as possible” afterwards.
Unlike MARAD’s mandatory language, Advisory No. 69-10 “urges” vessels in the region to conduct pre-voyage risk assessments and to incorporate “appropriate protective measures” into their security plans. The Advisory also “urges” those vessels to implement the latest counter-piracy Best Management Practices, to report position/course/speed regularly to UKMTO, to participate in the Ship Security Reporting System, to continue to maintain a heightened state of awareness, to maintain “strict” 24-hour visual and radar watches, and to report all attacks and suspicious sightings.
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