On the 2nd of October 2009 the Spanish tuna fishing boat “Alakrana” with its 36 crew members was abducted 120 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia by Somali pirates and was released only 47 days later. The hijacking has provoked major discussions in Spain about how to guarantee the maritime security for merchant vessels as well as for fishing boats. Since then Spain has implemented a new maritime security policy, involving the cooperation with private security companies (PSC) and which prompted the following changes. Firstly, the government approved legal modifications which allow Spanish-flagged vessels, sailing outside of Spanish territorial waters, to carry on board armed private security personnel. The decree was a result of an agreement between the Ministry of Defense and the ship owners´ associations in order to especially fishing boats more effectively from pirate attacks. Subsequently, this decree was modified to the effect that PSCs today are allowed to even use weapons of war to protect the respective vessel. Secondly, the Spanish government supports the affected ship owners financially by bearing about 30 of the overall costs incurred because of hiring PSCs. Thirdly, the deployed contractors receive training from the Spanish armed forces, especially with regard to the use of arms.
The paper analyzes this so-called “security governance with government” and will look deeper into the following points. Firstly, it elaborates the characteristics of this cooperation and therefore identifies the participating actors and the existing hierarchical structures. It will show which state actors (i.e. ministries, departments) and which shop owners are involved in the collaboration and singles out the Spanish maritime private security industry. Secondly, it illustrates the rationales of the Spanish Government to apply this policy, i.e. permitting and financing private security on private vessels, and will also show the motivations of the ship owners why they rely on PSCs. Thirdly, it deliberates on the effectiveness of the measure and finally, it discusses some legitimacy issues of the involvement of PSCs in maritime security.
The cooperation between Governments and private security companies in international affairs has increased considerably during the last fifteen years and boomed especially during the interventions taking place in Afghanistan and Iraq. As it became clear that the international troops will withdraw in the near future, the private security industry is looking for new markets and it seems that they have found new clients.
