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[AP통신] 소말리아 해적퇴치 신 장비실험
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[AP통신] 소말리아 해적퇴치 신 장비실험
  • KNS뉴스통신
  • 승인 2011.04.01 07:34
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Caribbean ship testing new anti-piracy system

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) — There are cameras that capture images clear enough to distinguish between a fishing vessel and a boatload of pirates 10 miles away. There are cascades of water and noxious compounds to repel invaders. And there are shields to withstand a rocket-propelled grenade.

A container ship that steamed into a Puerto Rican port Friday was old by commercial shipping standards but it had the latest in security measures, upgrades that convert it into a floating fortress designed to be impregnable to piracy.
The 720-foot Horizon Producer was temporarily outfitted as a training exercise for the crew, a demonstration for officials from Panama and Belize — both with major global shipping registries — and as an informercial for journalists. It also offers a window into the shipping industry's debate about what measures to take amid a surge in pirate attacks.

There is no longer a major pirate threat in the Caribbean. But Bill Boyce, the Horizon Producer's captain, said his crew members travel and could find themselves on a ship off East Africa, where the International Maritime Organization says more than 100 crewmen were taken hostage in January alone.
"They come on with rocket propelled grenade launchers and AK-47s and all you have is a fire hose," said Boyce, describing conditions on many commercial ships. "You're responsible for 30 people's lives ... and you don't have the tools to really help them. That's a lot of weight on a captain's shoulders."

Which is where International Maritime Security Network, LLC sees a niche. The company, based in Wellsburg, West Virginia, is starting to market its Triton Shield Anti-Piracy System, which it was testing and refining on the Horizon Producer, a 37-year-old steam-powered container ship, on its regular haul from Jacksonville, Florida, to San Juan.

The strategy starts with cameras that scan the horizon and give captains time to determine whether an approaching boat is carrying men with fishing equipment or RPG's. That may allow the ship to speed up and evade the pursuers.
If that doesn't work, the system dispatches a "wall of water," from nozzles arrayed along the length of the vessel to prevent pirates from boarding with grappling hooks. A separate system sprays a noxious compound that makes people retch, vomit and pass out.
CEO Timothy Nease, who says he doesn't know what's in the compound but insists it's biodegradable. He says no one can withstand either the compound or the water system, spraying at 150 gallons per minute, especially when a ship is running full speed and throwing up a wake.
"The water alone is a big deterrent," Nease said. "That thing grounds you; it's like being waterboarded almost."

If the pirates do manage to get on board, they encounter armed guards, equipped with bullet-resistant body shields and M-4 carbines and perhaps a .50 caliber rifle.
"That M-50 up there will blow a pirate boat completely out of the water," Nease said. "They get one warning shot. If they were to penetrate this ... then we would use deadly force. But we would never use serious deadly force unless we were in fear of serious bodily injury or death."

And if all that fails, IMSN trains crews how to hunker down in an on-board safe room, known as a citadel, and what do if taken hostage.
The cost varies depending on the size of the vessel and how much of the system a shipping company wants to buy, but it will generally range from $12,000 to nearly $100,000 for just the equipment and installation, Nease said.
There are a growing number of companies in the business because of the rash of hijackings, particularly off lawless Somalia, in recent years, said Jeffrey Kline, a retired Navy captain and expert on piracy at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

In the past, many captains used makeshift security such as fire hoses to spray water over the stern or concertina wire along sides of the vessel. The use of armed security teams is a major debate in the industry, Kline said by telephone. Some shipping companies are reluctant to use them because guns could increase liability from accidents and escalate the violence with pirates. They are also banned on commercial vessels in some international ports.
Still, the firing of warning shots at pirates seems to be having the most success protecting ships. "Two things that deter them are speed and live fire," he said.

(기사내용)

소말리아 해적퇴치 신 장비실험

산후안,푸에르토리코 (AP) - 로켓추진 수류탄으로 무장한 해적의 공격을 퇴치하기 위한 새로운 장비들이 속속 개발되고 있는 가운데 10마일 밖의 해적 보트를 찍을 수 있는 카메라, 물대포, 유해 화합물 그리고 방어벽등의 시스템 사용방법이 실험되었다.

1일 푸에르토리코항에서 파나마와 베리즈 관리, 세계주요 선사관계자 와 기자들이 참석하여 최신의 장비로 해상요새로 탈바꿈한 컨데이너선에서 장비사용과 선원의 훈련에 대한 실험을 실시했다. 해운업계가 이 실험을 통해서 급증하고 있는 해적의 공격에 대처할 수 있는 조치에 대해 논의하기 시작했다. 1월에만 해적에 납치된 선원 수는 100명을 넘고 있다.

중무장한 해적의 공격을 퇴치하는 장비를 판매하는 틈새시장을 파고들려는 미국의 한 해상 보안 관계 회사가 트리턴 해적 퇴치 시스템을 실험했다.

이 시스템은 해상에서 접근하는 보트를 카메라가 잡어서 해적이라고 판단되면 속력을 높여 도주할 수 있고 만약의 경우 배 옆에 설치된 물 장벽을 사용해서 해적들이 배에 오르지 못하게 하고 유해 화합물을 뿌려 퇴치하는 방법이다.

해적이 배에 올라탈 때를 대비해서 방탄조끼를 입은 경비가 M-4 소총이나 50밀리 구경 소총을 사용하여 해적선을 침몰시킬 수 있다. 최후수단으로 성체라고 불리는 안전 실에서 숨어있는 것과 해적에 납치되었을 떄의 행동요령에 관해 훈련시키는 것이다.

이런 시스템을 갖추는 비용은 배에 따라 12,000 달러에서 100,000 달러까지 소요된다. 소말리아 해역의 해적에 의한 선원의 납치사건이 빈번해지자 많은 사람들이 이 틈새시장을 파고들기 시작하고 있다.

 

KNS뉴스통신 kns@kns.tv


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