The London-based maritime industry trade body SAMI reports that it has long been engaged with the development of “Rules for the Use of Force” – difficult and complex, the association says, but over the years there have strides made.
The United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime (UNODC) recently held a two day meeting at the IMO in London to develop a new handbook on the teaching and training of RUF for private security companies. About 30 representatives from the US, UK, various international organisations, the shipping industry and SAMI attended.
Initially there were some concerns that of the handbook may have been a re-hash of work that has been completed by many organisations and companies already. Some even voiced concerns that the development may be counterproductive.
After representations by the shipping industry and SAMI, and discussions, it was agreed that with the exception of the overarching philosophy of self-defence there would be a significant portion of the book dedicated to RUF in maritime. This was felt to be key to the development, as the handbook will contain specific environments and scenarios, and neglecting to include the maritime dimension would have been detrimental to the publication.
