Why floating armouries are a dangerous problem that nobody wants to tackle
- The ageing fleet of opaquely run floating armouries exists in an unregulated hinterland of the shipping industry that few companies want to ask too many questions of
- Following the evacuation of one new entrant to the market, a 54-year-old converted offshore vessel, questions are being raised about safety standards
- No centralised weapon registration system and no central registration of floating armouries themselves, beyond flag state registrations, exists
Questionable flag state oversight; 50-year-old vessels carrying thousands of firearms and a revolving cast of international private security contractors; years of cut-throat competition between companies operating in opaque jurisdictions; and all in an unregulated market that operates in international waters. What could possibly go wrong?
