Piracy, MASS and Security

His Excellency Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary General of the IMO, briefed The Nautical Institute and other NGOs on a range of issues.

A focal issue for us all remains the security situation in the Strait of Hormuz.  Up to the date of this brief, a total of 38 incidents have been recorded against ships, with 11 seafarer fatalities. The Secretary General then highlighted reports that some seafarers are being forced by their owners/charterers to sail through the Strait, against their will – this is not acceptable. It was also noted that some reports are emerging of seafarer abandonment as a result of the de-facto closure of the Strait.

Reflecting a worrying trend of security issues, piracy in the Gulf of Aden is once again on the rise. Whilst much of the world is distracted by events in the Strait of Hormuz, there have been five reported cases of piracy in the Somalia/Gulf of Aden region in the last week. This issue will be raised at the IMO’s meeting of the Maritime Safety Committee, which starts tomorrow.

As an element of mitigating the threat from piracy, the Secretary General highlighted the continued relevant of the Industry publication ‘Best Management Practices – Maritime Security’ (BMP-MS), which was last updated in March 2025.  Copies of BMP-MS remain available for download here: bmp-ms_hi-res_s.pdf

The Nautical Institute was represented at the Secretary General’s briefing by Captain Chris O’Flaherty AFNI, who will also lead our delegation at this week’s IMO MSC meeting.