There is a diminished role for armed guards in contemporary maritime security despite increasing piracy threats, according to security experts. Complexities around policing territorial waters have made the use of private maritime security companies (PMSCs) difficult in piracy hot spots, including West Africa. However, security experts agreed that they are still needed in Somalia, although their deployment should be reduced in numbers and voyage risk assessments prioritised. "The deployment of such teams should be the exception and not the rule. As a decision it should be taken as a result of a careful and considered appreciation of the risks to vessel and crew, set against a number of factors as they are found at the time, and not as they have come to be understood as a result of legacy constructs of how risk once was," said Munro Anderson, partner at Dryad Global.
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