PMCI May 2015 | Página 10

pmcimagazine.com TRAINING: MARITIME SECURITY ALL PICTURES COURTESY OF EUROPEAN SECURITY ACADEMY MARITIME SECURITY BY ESA Already well known worldwide for its training programs for security professionals and contractors, the European Security Academy has jumped in at the deep end! Quite literally so, by conducting for the first time in Central Eastern Europe specific and targeted training for teams protecting ships, or Vessel Protection Teams. S ince its founding in 1992, the European Secu rity Academy has been constantly widening its scope of training and services. The latest project is a course in the realm of ship protection, “Maritime Security Operative”, which aims to train personnel in protecting ships against sea pirates. The need for such specialists is growing; every year there are a large number of pirate attacks on trade and passenger ships. “The most dangerous regions for these incidents includes the Gulf of Aden, the Strait of Malacca, or Niger Delta” says Bartosz Bryl from European Security Academy. All that is proven by a report of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), a specialist unit at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), according to which in 2011 there were as many as 439 attacks! Maritime Security Operative – How They Train It is not easy to become a specialist in ship protection. It all starts with specific training, as the distinctive character of working at sea is diametrically different from working on dry land; “Companies that create Maritime Security Teams treat this element as a must in a CV” notes Bryl. 10 It