State or private protection against maritime piracy?

Overview of the challenges related to military vessel protection detachments, the existing legal framework for private security companies, and key regulatory aspects.
Three main options are given for the current Dutch policy to move ahead.

This report is intended to contribute to the debate in the Netherlands on how to organise the protection of commercial shipping against piracy at sea. A major question is whether or not the use of armed private security companies to protect commercial shipping should be allowed. While Dutch ships may apply for on board protection by military vessel protection detachments, the use of armed private security companies is not allowed by the Dutch government. In order to better assess the factors relevant to balancing the pros and cons of allowing private security companies to provide protection to ships passing through high risk areas, this report provides an overview of the challenges related to military vessel protection detachments, the existing legal framework for private security companies, and key regulatory aspects.

It concludes that continuing the current Dutch policy without adjustments is not desirable. In order to move ahead, three main options are: 1) to uphold the prohibition on the use of private security firms, but to make the availability of military protection detachments more flexible, quicker, and cheaper; 2) to maintain military protection detachments as the backbone of Dutch policy, but to allow the use of private firms under strict criteria and oversight mechanisms; 3) to end the deployment of military protection detachments, and to make the use of private firms possible under strict criteria and oversight mechanisms.