It's enough to make even hardened sea dogs think twice: a 9,000-volt electric fence to zap pirates and other intruders as they try to board ships.
As a suspected terrorist attack on a French oil tanker in Yemen raises safety concerns on the high seas, Rotterdam-based Secure-Marine says its new device can ward off modern-day buccaneers, who often arrive at night aboard motorboats and scale vessels by rope.
Beefing up onboard security may persuade insurers to lower premiums for ships headed to places like Indonesia. Its waters have been declared a war-risk zone by insurers, according to Regional Container Pcl, Thailand's largest shipper.
"If it's effective and if there is the take-up, then it could be reflected in rates," said Jonathan Ranger, principal officer at Lloyd's marine insurance syndicate Watkins in Singapore.
At the same time, though, "an electric fence is unlikely to stop a determined terrorist."
Neptune Orient Lines Ltd, the world's sixth-largest liner fleet, has reviewed a "wide range of initiatives" including electric fences, said Sarah Lockie, a company spokeswoman.
The fences "are not currently one of the security measures we employ."
Attacks at sea range from "maritime mugging," in which thieves board anchored vessels to steal personal belongings, to heists in which goods are stolen at gunpoint by organized gangs, said Jayant Abhyankar, a 17-year merchant navy captain who is now deputy director at the International Maritime Bureau, a division of the International Chamber of Commerce, a trade lobby.
Dangerous waters
Attacks off Indonesia, where a bomb blast in Bali killed at least 184 people last month, accounted for 72 of 271 reported pirate attacks between January and September of 2001, the bureau said, citing its latest figures.
Global pirate attacks rose from 253 in the first nine months of 2000, the bureau said.
Other hot spots include the Indian Ocean and the Red Sea, where armed militias seized four commercial vessels near Somalia since January.
Secure-Ship is modeled on the electrified fences that enclose military installations. It strings wires from poles that poke from a vessel's deck and "can stop anyone from trying to board a ship -- pirate or terrorist," said Raphael Kahn, director of the Dutch security company.
The cost varies from ship to ship. Buyers can expect to pay about 20,000 euros (US$19,800) to fit a vessel less than 150m long, Kahn said.
The system has drawbacks: Its high-voltage current means it can't be used on oil tankers like the Limburg, the French ship attacked off Yemen, or liquefied natural gas carriers and other vessels carrying flammable cargoes.
It offers no protection against suicide squads like those who used an explosives-packed boat to attack the USS Cole off Aden in Oct. 2000.
It may also endanger crews.
"It's not going to be too long before a stevedore or crew member accidentally electrocutes himself, and shipping companies start getting insurance claims," said Darryl Kennard, a maritime lawyer at Thomas Cooper & Stibbard in Singapore.
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