DEMAND for armed guards is up as shipowners seek protection for crews in the Red Sea.

Attacks by Yemen’s Houthi militia on ships, and recent Somali piracy incidents that many suspect are related, have revived interest in armed teams.

Dimitris Maniatis, chief operating officer at Seagull Maritime, a UK and Malta-based security company, said he saw a “tremendous rise” in interest from shipowners and managers for guards.

Ships at higher risk have gone from taking teams of three guards on board to six to eight. Companies are also taking on guards for longer stretches than before.

Guard teams were set up to deter hostile boarding by Somali pirates, who tended to flee rather than fight.

They cannot stop missile attacks, nor Iranian commandos like those that seized the tanker St Nikolas, formerly know as the Suez Rajan (IMO: 9524475) yesterday. However, sources have hinted that they have options they can use against drones and remote-controlled boats. 

But John Thompson, director at British maritime security firm Ambrey, said guards have been effective at deterring boardings.

“We are well equipped and trained for this scenario and our embarked security teams have performed well,” he said.

Maniatis said guards could deter or deflect helicopter boardings; options like steel nets or metal poles on deck could help, depending on the ship type. “We’ve seen so many different designs or applications that have been thought up by the crews themselves,” he said.

Guards are not there just to make the crew feel better, Maniatis said.

It is unclear whether some recent incidents of armed men on skiffs trying to board ships are Houthis, Somali pirates, or the latter hired by the former. Owners are turning to armed guards either way.

“Last year some clients were attempting to convince their war insurers to remove warranties for armed guards,” Thompson said.

“That era is now over and all war premiums have rocketed.”

Warranties are stipulating armed guards, which is also driving the market, he added.

But more interest from shipowners has not necessarily meant an equivalent boost in contracts, let alone a Somali-style market boom.

IBS International Operative Services chief executive Horst Ruetten said he saw no increase in armed-guard business from the Red Sea crisis so far.

He said some shipowners may have increased rates and seafarer pay, but were less willing to pay for guards. Ships taking the long way around the Cape of Good Hope do not need guards.

The cost of guards, war risk cover, and the risk of a “serious” gunfight between guards and the Houthis may drive operators to go the long way instead. 

Security companies also have to cover the fixed costs of floating armouries, where guards and their weapons get on and off ships.

The guards industry has languished in recent years with the Somali threat seemingly banished until now.

The Indian Ocean High Risk Area was removed on January 1, 2023 to reflect there had been no Somali attacks since 2018. The number of companies dwindled from hundreds to tens, and their work now comes more from advising on risk and route planning, sources said.

Rates for guards have plummeted to “ridiculous” lows as owners and charterers cut costs, sending security companies into a race to the bottom on price.

In the high season of 2011-13, ex-special forces soldiers from Nato countries could command about $100,000-$120,000 for a three-man team for a month. That has fallen to about $30,000, Ruetten said.

Guards today make about $650-$1,000 a month and tend to come from India, Nepal or Sri Lanka. They work on three-month contracts so it is hard to tell if higher pay will filter through and attract more people to the job. Working from floating armouries instead of ports means fewer contracted days than in the boom years.

Security companies expect a modest boost in revenue, but no return to the good old days.

But they say the smaller industry is now more efficient and has better technology to prevent attacks.

Thompson said ships would once bump into pirate motherships; now they can spot them and route around. He said Ambrey had rerouted “upwards of 40 ships” around suspected pirate dhows in the past few weeks alone.

“You need people on board only in the highest and most elevated threat areas,” he said.

Companies expected traffic to return to near normal in coming months if international navies can keep protecting ships.

Maniatis recalled Greek captains braving the threat of scud missiles in the region in decades past. Mariners are tough and will take calculated risks for the right price, he said.

Thompson said: “The industry is quick to move away, but it is also quick to move back when the situation eases.”