A Private Maritime Security Company (PMSC) is a form of Private Military Company that offers services in the maritime sector.
Overview PMSCs have become increasingly prominent since the late 2000s due to the increasing privatisation of military forces, rise in modern piracy and the expansion of the neoliberal container shipping industry.
PMSCs offer a diverse range of services varying from signal intelligence for civilian ships to armed port security for logistics companies. The most prominent, and controversial, service that these companies offer is armed anti-piracy support.
The main services offered by PMSCs can be broken down into 4 areas:
Security intelligence, risk assessment and consulting On-site security services (armed and unarmed) Crisis response Intervention
PMSCs are most frequently used by private companies for their security or intelligence services in the aim of streamlining supply-chains to increase profits.
PMSCs are also used by national governments as a neoliberal solution to modern security issues such as piracy and its negative impacts on their import based economies. See the "Success" section for more information.
The regulation of PMSCs characterises the clash between national and international sovereignty due to the nature of Flags of Convenience. This clash is also where PMSCs derive their operational and economic success from. PMSCs are able to use Flags of Convenience to navigate the current nation-state based world order to 'opt-out' of national regulation and avoid the applicability of international regulation. This increases their profits and operational success which in-turn increases their market value, popularity and legitimacy as a solution to maritime security issues.
The PMSCs are especially active in areas with strategically important waterways where piracy is a serious security threat. Today, hotspots include: the Indian Ocean, the Strait of Malacca, the Strait of Hormuz the Gulf of Guinea, the Gulf of Aden, and the Gulf of Mexico.
The presence of the PMSCs points to a global system where non-state actors and global supply chains play significant roles in international affairs.
Emergence
Modern private military companies came into prominence in the early 2000s due to their role in the US-led war on terror. They were widely seen as a success as they provided a diplomatically, economically and strategically efficient and successful method to achieve logistical and tactical goals in co-operation with national forces. Due to the commerciality of maritime security, PMSCs are frequently the sole security actors in a space or conflict, this has led to many controversies
After the 2009 Maersk Alabama hijacking, Somali Piracy rose to the forefront of the security agenda for western nations and PMCs. Existing PMCs moved into the maritime sector and new PMSCs were set up to profit from this new challenge.
The boom and importance of neoliberal globalism is reflected in the shipping industry. Currently, shipping accounts for the transport of over 80% of goods globally. As piracy poses a threat to this trade, it also poses a threat to international security due to the import/export based nature of the liberal world order. PMSCs have been described as a manifestation of the overlap between (inter)national security and neoliberal global supply chains
SAMI is a membership organisation which represents maritime security companies and acts as a focal point for global maritime security matters. In 2011 the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) offered its public support for the use of private armed security aboard ships.
The International Maritime Organisation (IMO) is a UN organisation that regulates global shipping. It represents about 80% of the world’s merchant fleet.
Success PMSCs have widely been considered successful, they provide a diplomatically, economically, and tactically advantageous solution to both national and private maritime security issues. However, they are widely considered to be in need of more regulation.
The international Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported that no ship with armed PMSC staff onboard has been successfully hijacked by pirates.
PMSCs also provide political protection to nation states as they are a method of outsourcing accountability for some controversial and sensitive areas of national interest. This is most commonly in relation to the use, and transportation, of weapons within the territorial waters of other nations. Even though private companies are rarely held accountable for any violations they commit, when they are, they can be fined and punished accordingly. If national armed forces were to commit similar violations they could easily escalate and create unwanted large scale international disputes.
PMSCs have been widely praised as a solution to nations that may be involved in political issues beyond their economic or operational scope. This has famously been the case in Somalia where the national government could not effectively deal with their coastal piracy issue which challenged global shipping interests. Since PMCs moved into the area, Somali piracy has drastically reduced.
PMSCs have proved to be an effective short term solution to fill the security gap whilst developing nations build up their own capabilities to deal with said issues. However there is to debate on whether they are an effective long-term solution as private military companies have a profit incentive for the area to remain unstable as to justify their presence.
However, this view of a profit incentive to prolong conflict has been critiqued by many scholars as an oversimplification. Land based PMC literature insists that this issue is only common when there is one PMC in the area. The literature stresses that when there are multiple PMCs involved, the profit incentive shifts from prolonging the conflict to solving the conflict. However, due to the commercial nature of PMSCs, it is very common that only one company is present on each operation.
PMSCs can also fulfil the foreign policy goals of nation states by securitising the overlap of national interest and market interest that is inherent in a globalised world. This is demonstrated by the focus that wealthy consumer based nations have put on using international coalitions to counter piracy. Examples include the EU’s Atalanta, NATOs Ocean shield and Bahraini based Combined Task Force 150.
Services The most prominent offshore use of PMSCs is the armed protection of vessels against pirates. These kinds of armed protection and anti-piracy services at sea are mostly minor operations and only require the presence of security personnel for short periods of time. Five to ten guards are usually sufficient to protect a ship against pirates.
PMSCs are increasingly offering their services to safeguard commercial shipping interests.
The contemporary private maritime security market offers a wide range of services, such as:
Operational and tactical military and maritime security training Security intelligence analysis and risk advisory services and assessments Rapid emergency response Hijack and hostage negotiations Armed and unarmed operational support. This consists of anti-piracy operations, fishery protection, coast guard duties and logistics support. Note that armed guards are not allowed in some states such as Nigeria and Sierra Leone. Armed and unarmed site security. (ports, offshore platforms and cruise vessels).
PMSCs are frequently hired by the commercial shipping industry, individual ship-owners, insurance companies, private luxury yachts, cruise liners, or port operators. Governments also sometimes hire PMSCs. Cruise liners and large passenger ferries are often discreetly using the services provided by the PMSCs such as signals intelligence.
The PMSCs are operating with a desire to ensure that the provision of their security services remains profitable.
Controversy The demand for private maritime services is not a modern phenomenon but has received global attention more recently.
There are differing views as to whether the engagement of private security services undermines the security and sovereignty of individual states. This is because the use of force is traditionally viewed as an act requiring the prerogative of the state.
There have been concerns and controversies about the use of excessive and aggressive force by PMSCs. This has created many legal, ethical, economic, and political issues.
PMSCs share in many critiques with land based PMCs such as; acting as mercenaries, having a lack of accountability and vague applicability of /responsibility to international law. This is because the current frameworks that are used to determine international law at sea, (UNCLOS and SUA) have an outdated definition of piracy. Under UNCLOS, attacks in territorial waters cannot legally be considered acts of piracy as states can only exercise universal jurisdiction over pirates that occur on the high seas. This regulation is not practically enforceable onto PMSCs.
Diplomats and UN officials have stated “it is common knowledge in the industry that PMSCs pre-emptively attack – perhaps even kill – anyone they perceive as a threat.” And PMSCs “Do not have any consequences for their actions”. PMSC representatives claim this is because of their contractual obligations to shipping companies to maintain secrecy on operational activities. However, the master of the vessel has the responsibility to report any potential crimes and private companies do not have an incentive to report issues that may bring about criminal charges to their contractors. Furthermore, flags of convenience make it unclear who the shipmaster should report to.
PMSCs have also faced criticism for acting as floating armouries. A UN report in 2012 found PMSCs to be holding 7000 weapons and had begun leasing them, their ammunitions and security equipment to private bodies.
PMSCs have also been documented carrying state owned weapons in the EEZs of sovereign nations and throwing weapons overboard before entering ports. These “Floating Armouries” have been found to be both peaceful and aggressive. The IMO has been encouraged to pass more regulation on these phenomena to protect the security of coastal states that they inherently threatenPolepalli, S.N., 2019. Floating Armories and Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel on Board Ships: Balancing Coastal State Security Concerns Against Navigational Freedom. J. Territorial & Mar. Stud., 6, p.68
Due to the geographical nature of the sea and the land-based bureaucracies that govern PMSCs, it is very difficult to enforce any regulatory laws. Laws and guidelines are frequently overlooked due to the economic efficiency of PMSCs, and violations are not investigated due to social, legal and economic consequences that may result from uncovering abuses. (see Legal and policy issues for more detail)
PMSCs have been described as an effective short-term, but dangerous long-term, solution; this is because of the maritime geography and marketplace offering a different profit incentive than land based PMCs. PMSCs usually operate as the sole security actors in a space, unlike land based PMCs which are usually employed to back up a national military operation. This means that land based PMCs have their profit motive in achieving national goals, which usually includes making an area safe for civilians and military personnel. PMSCs however, are predominately assisting a private company achieve economic goals and therefore have their profit motive in securitising the space for economic incentives over security ones.