Supreme Court E-Library
Information At Your Fingertips

  View printer friendly version

With alarming increase in the number of acts of piracy in the waters off the coast of Somalia against ships, the International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued several maritime safety circulars which contain preventive measures and recommendations to prevent and suppress these nefarious acts.

Taking into account the negative effects of piracy and armed robbery against ships in human lives, the safety of navigation and the environment, all concerned shipping companies, ship operators, ship managers, ship masters, charterers, crew and other maritime entities concerned are required to implement fully the preventive measures as provided in the IMO Circulars, as follows:

1. Maritime Safety Committee (MSC)/Circular 622/Rev. 1 – Recommendations to Governments for preventing and suppressing piracy and armed robbery against ships.

2. MSC/Circular 623/Rev. 3 – Guidance to shipowners and ship operators, shipmasters and crews on preventing and suppressing acts of piracy and armed robbery against ships; and

3. MSC.1/Circular 1302 – Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships in Waters Off the Coast of Somalia.

Further, the concerned parties are required to perform the suggested measures, as follows:

1. that shipmasters should not, unless unavoidable, plan their passage within 600 nautical miles of the Somali coast in the Western Indian Ocean;

2. to accept the advice of Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) as provided in MSC.1/Circular 1302;

3. unless operating under national schemes, register the intended movement of their ships with MSCHOA via the website www.mschoa.org;

4. unless operating under national schemes, report the navigation route of their ship to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO) Dubai and the International Maritime Bureau when navigating through the Gulf of Aden and/or the Western Indian Ocean;

5. take prompt action in response to any alerts or guidance issued by MSCHOA, UKMTO Dubai, Maritime Liaison Office (MARLO) Bahrain, the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC), ALINDIEN (Tel: +33(0) 483161097 – alilendien@free.fr) or any coastal State authority in the region so as to minimize the risk of attack; and

6. report any attacks or suspected pirate activity to UKMTO Dubai (Tel: +97 1504423215 – ukmto@eim.ae) or IMB PRC (Tel: +60 3203 10014 – imbkl@icc-ccs.org/piracy@ icc-ccs.org) immediately, with further reports to MSCHOA (opscentre@mschoa.org) and the regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre as soon as possible; and

7. the crew onboard a ship should be aware of the existing IMO circulars/issuances relative to measures and recommendations to prevent and suppress piracy and armed robbery against ships.

The aforementioned Circulars can be found in the IMO website at http://www.imo.org. Finally, all concerned parties are required to report case(s) of piratical attacks or armed robbery against their ship/s to any of the following hotlines of the government agencies concerned which are on a 24/7 operational schedule:

Name of Agencies/Contact Persons	Telephone Nos./Hotlines	Fax Nos.
1. Maritime Industry Authority Hon. Maria Elena H. Bautista Administrator e-mail: ehb769@yahoo.com	(0632) 524-9126 (0632) 536-0598	(0632) 523-9078 (0632) 524-7718
2. Philippine Coast Guard Hon. Wilfredo D. Tamayo Commandant e-mail: wdtamayo@yahoo.com	(0632) 527-8481 up to 85	(0632) 527-3868
3. Philippine Navy Hon. Ferdinand S. Golez Vice Admiral e-mail: hpn.ofoic@yahoo.com	(0632) 524-2061 (0632) 525-4987	(0632) 523-4801
4. Office for Transportation Security Hon. Cecilio R. Penilla Administrator email: spenilla@pldtdsl.net	0915-2603650 (0632) 833-3350	(0632) 833-3350 (0632) 855-2418
5. Department of Foreign Affairs Hon. Alberto G. Romulo Secretary email: osec@dfa.go v.ph	(0632) 834-3333 (0632) 834-4000 loc. 3333	(0632) 831-4767
6. Philippine Ports Authority Hon. Oscar M. Sevilla General Manager email: oms 2123@yahoo.com	(0632) 527-6436	(0632) 527-4853 (0632) 301-9065
7. Philippine National Police Maritime Group Hon. Villamor A. Bumanglag Police Chief Superintendent email: ado_mg@yahoo.com	(0632) 722-1074 (0632) 725-3865	(0632) 722-1074

For your guidance and strict compliance.

Adopted: 14 May 2009

(SGD.) MARIA ELENA H. BAUTISTA
Administrator