Maritime rules thrown to the winds: MoD

Though Italy maintained that all norms were followed before firing at the fishermen, sources at defence ministry claimed no internationally accepted rules were followed.

“Prime Facie it seems that Best Management Practice (BMP) of International Maritime Organisation was not followed by Italian navy before opening fire at Indian fishermen. There are proper guidelines in case a pirate attack is imminent. Firing is the last resort,” a defence ministry official told DNA.

According to the BMP formulated by International Maritime Organisation (IMO) in case if an imminent pirate attack, the ship has to follow several procedures as contingency plan i.e. activate the emergency communication plan and report the attack immediately to the single primary point of contact in the event of an attack.

“The ship security alert system first has to be activated, which alerts your company security officer and flag state. Post-attack reports should be communicated as quickly as possible. Secondly, make a ‘Mayday’ call on VHF channel 16 and send distress message via digital selective calling system. But, it seems that none of these norms was followed by the Italian merchant vessel.”