CONSIDERING ANTI-PIRACY SHIP SECURITY: CITADEL DESIGN AND USE

Abstract

As piracy continues to pose a threat to the shipping industry, a number of measures for protecting ships, cargo and crew will need to be implemented. Along with other steps, such as deploying military rescue teams, securing the crew within a ship’s citadel has proved to be a highly effective form of self-protection against hostage-taking by pirates. From a design standpoint, aspects that should be considered include the location and dimensions of the citadel, the maximum time crew can stay within it and the specific requirements for various elements of the ship or citadel equipment. Exploiting data on pirate attacks recently occurring in High Risk Areas, this article analyses the design and use of the citadel as a self-protection measure against piracy. As a conclusion, various requirements for these structures are recommended.

Keywords

• piracy
• hostage-taking
• self-protection
• citadel