The Role
played by Sri Lanka in International Maritime Security Industry
The
Beginning and spread of Somali Pirates
After the
second civil war in Somalia, Piracy started around 2005 in the Indian Ocean. By
about 2007, Somali pirates had become a threat to international merchant
vessels plying in the Indian Ocean. In order to meet this growing threat, USA,
EU, China, India, Iran and several other countries started patrolling the
vulnerable ocean area. However, due to complexities of Piracy, the naval ships
were unable to curb the menace of piracy completely.
Implementation
of additional measures to curb Piracy
By about
2007, the Pirates expanded their activities in almost entirety of Western Indian
Ocean costing the shipping companies a
huge Insurance Premium for ships operating in this area. On Board Armed Security Guards, one of the
measures introduced to address the issue of piracy became most successful in
the long run. The American, British and European private maritime Security
Companies(PMSC) were the pioneers in implementing this concept. Meantime, the
International agencies promulgated a High Risk Area(HRA), as shown in the map,
to demarcate the area of heightened piracy activities. The major entry and exit
points to this High Risk Area are; Red Sea, Fujairah near United Arab Emirates
and South of Galle in Sri Lanka.
In this
concept armed security guards(PCASP) are introduced to merchant ships when they
enter HRA. When the ship leaves the HRA the PCASP are required to be taken off
from the ship. In order to facilitate this transfer at the entry & exit ,
the Floating armoury system became an essential part in protection of merchant
vessels in HRA.
To cater
for this requirement, some foreign companies established floating armouries at
various locations including sea area off Galle, without the knowledge of the
Government of Sri Lanka. However no country recognized the presence of Floating
armouries neither took the responsibility for the regulating of these floating
armouries. This complicated situation and gray areas of responsibility, posed a
grave national as well as regional security threat to littoral states in the
area.
Establishment
of an Armoury off Galle for counter
piracy operations
In order to
prevent this threat to national security and to fulfill the obligations as a
responsible member in the United Nations, as urged by the United Nations
Convention of the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), clause 100, the Ministry of Defence
decided to establish an armoury in the naval base at the port of Galle to
support the ongoing counter piracy operations. This safe keeping operation
continued for almost two years. However, there were some legal issues regarding
storing of foreign weapons in a naval armoury, and the Ministry of Defence
wanted to introduce an alternative mechanism to handle this issue. The task was
entrusted to Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited (RALL).
Entry of
Avant Garde Maritime Security Service (AGMS) to the International Maritime
Security field.
By this
time, Avant Garde Maritime Services (AGMS) and Rakna Arakshaka Lanka Limited
(RALL),the government owned security Company, had commenced a joint venture to
provide on board security to foreign long liner fishing vessels in the Western
Indian Ocean.
In
expanding above international operation, AGMS established its presence in the
merchant vessel protection programme too, by positioning a Floating armoury in
the Gulf of Oman near United Arab Emirates. At this time, there were few other
floating armouries operating in this area.However AGMS was the first Asian
Company to operate a Floating armoury in
counter piracy operations in the Indian Ocean. It is pertinent to note
here that AGMS expanded the Floating armoury operations by introducing another
Floating armoury in Red Sea in August
2012.
The
Beginning of the Galle Floating Armoury
As a result
of years of studies undertaken and experience gained by AGMS and RALL in the
maritime security industry, RALL suggested,
for the AGMS to submit a proposal to set up a Floating armoury in Galle
area, since a well regulated Floating armoury under the close supervision of
state agency would be the best way to address the issues arising out of unregulated
Floating armoury off the Sri Lankan shores.
AGMS,
consequently, made a project proposal to RALL in this regard. MOD being the
line ministry on the subject, after careful study, in consultation with the Sri
Lanka Navy decided that most appropriate solution for the issues & concerns
with regard to running of safe keeping armoury in Galle is, the establishment
of a Floating armoury off Galle. Accordingly, in October 2012, a floating
armoury was established off Galle under the direct supervision of the Sri Lanka
Navy to be managed by RALL and AGMS.
Major reasons for Setting up of Galle Floating
armoury
There were
serious doubts concerning the state approval
of the weapons kept in the armoury by foreign companies and hence
storing these weapons was a serious concern.
Some
companies did not like to deal with the Navy directly and were hesitant to
deposit their weapons in the navy run armoury and tried to maintain floating
armouries around the seas off Galle, without any approval from the government
of Sri Lanka.
Some
friendly foreign countries were showing a keen interest in maintaining Floating
armouries just outside the Sri Lankan territorial waters seizing this
opportunity. GOSL was finding it difficult to reject those request because of
the diplomatic complications and freedom of Navigation in UNCLOS.
Since all
PMSCs using the safe keeping facility at Galle were private Companies from
western countries and used to work with customer oriented user friendly
business process elsewhere, they were reluctant to work with the Government
bureaucracy and they were considering alternatives locations. Continuation of
this conflict may have caused PMSCs shifting their Galle operations to
alternative locations like Maldives, etc.
The
Benefits to Sri Lanka By the Floating Armoury
AGMS was
able to earn more than three times the foreign exchange hither to earn by Sri
Lanka Navy, for the country after establishing Galle floating armoury. 40% of
this income,3.2 billion Rupees was paid to GOSL. In addition, to this direct
income, AGMS was able to realize following indirect benefits through this
project;
To provide
job opportunities for nearly 3000 retired military officers and other ranks
with a respectable salary.
To provide
internationally recognized training to Sri Lankan Sea Marshalls in order for
them to compete with Sea Marshalls of any Country.
Establishing
Sri Lanka as the hub for training international maritime security
professionals. As of now, AGMS has trained more than 1500 such security
personnel from many Nations.
Increased
the number of Galle operations from 500 a month to about 850 a month by
improving the facilities and conducting aggressive marketing campaign.
International
recognition
After
taking over this venture from the navy, AGMS was able to turn it into a highly
transparent, accountable and organized venture, functioning under best
management practices and international laws and conventions. Therefore, this
venture won high praises from Admiral DK Joshi, then Chief of Indian Navy, and
Mr. Peter Cook, CEO/Director of Security Association for Maritime Industry
(SAMI), and a host of other key personnel in the maritime industry as a
“perfect Model for Entire world”.
In
recognition of professionalism in management & administration AGMS was
awarded ISO 9001:2008 certification by Sri Lanka Standards Institution and ISO
28000:2007 by Lloyd’s registry quality assurance of UK. AGMS is the only
PMSC that has been awarded with the
coveted ISO 28000:2007 for Long Liner Fishing Vessels in the whole World.
Further AGMS is the only ISO 28000:2007 certified Maritime Security Services
provider in Sri Lanka. Accordingly AGMS is the only company in the whole of
Asia to operate 03 Floating Armouries in support of anti-piracy operations. In
addition Avant Garde group has been awarded International Quality Crown Award
London 2012, International Star for leadership in Quality Award (business
initiative directions principles of the QC100 total quality management model)
(2013, Paris), European Awards for Best Practices 2014 (The European Society
for quality research, Brussels, Belgium), International Diamond Star Award for
Quality 2014 – ISAQ (Geneva, Switzerland) and The new Era award for Technology,
Innovation and quality, Rome, Italy 2014.
Venturing
into new projects
With the
experience gained in the Indian Ocean, AGMS was able to commence discussions
with Ministers of Defence and senior armed forces officials in countries such
as Nigeria, Togo, Benin, Ghana and Senegal to deal with maritime security in
the Gulf of Guinea, which now, is the region with the highest number of
incidents of piracy in the world. These discussions were almost at the final
stage. When implemented, these projects will be able to provide employment
opportunities for more than 3000 retired military officers and bring in 500
hundred millions of US Dollars as income to the country. During these
deliberations, AGMS was able to promote Arrow craft and Wave Rider craft
produced by Sri Lanka Navy, which are proven designs in battles against the
suicide boats of the Sea Tigers, to the Nigerian Navy. Agreements have been
signed for this project too, and once commenced, it will bring in about 385
million US Dollars in foreign exchange to the country and create a large number
of jobs in the naval and maritime sector.
Effective
Management
In order to
maintain effective management with a high degree of professionalism, AGMS
obtained the service of a large number of senior military officers who had
rendered exemplary service to the country. There are retired senior SLA
officers, two retired Chiefs of Defence staff, two retired Chiefs of the Navy,
two retired army Chiefs of Staff, two retired Director General of Coast Guard,
one retired Commandant of the STF, retired Major Generals, retired Rear
Admirals and a host of other retired military and Police officers working as
advisers and consultants and senior managers with AGMS.
Earning of
Foreign Exchange
Financially,
from the time AGMS started Galle operations, more than seven billion rupees
have been earned by the country as foreign exchange. Out of this income, 40%
has been given to the government. This percentage is much higher than the
amount AGMS would have paid if AGMS was allowed to pay usual taxes as in the
case of any Sri Lankan conglomerate. It is noteworthy that GOSL, MOD or RALL
have not invested a single cent in this project.
Challenges
and Competition
At the
beginning, only British and European guards were deployed as armed security
guards and they were paid as much as 3000 USD for a month. But now, due to the
competition amongst PMSCs and the entry of Indian, Nepalese, Philippines and
eastern European Sea Marshalls, some companies provide Sea Marshalls for as low
as 700 USD a month. Despite fierce competition and sharp reduction of salaries
in the wider industry, AGMS has been able to maintain a minimum wage of USD
1000 per month to the Sri Lankan Sea Marshalls, by using business expertise,
professionalism better training and combining the network of floating armouries to design total service packages.
Also AGMS
had to deal with many crisis situations in the process. One recent example was
the bankruptcy incident of GOAGT of UK.
When this leading PMSC collapsed
overnight, leaving many Sri Lankan Sea Marshalls stranded in various overseas
locations, AGMS had to step in to repatriate them back to Sri Lanka and pay
them their unpaid salaries costing over 50 million rupees.
Employee
Welfare and Social Responsibility
Sea
Marshalls because of their nature of duty stay away from their families for
prolonged periods, sometimes running into many months. In order to look after
their families whilst the father/ husband is away from the home, AGMS maintains
regional welfare centers in every province. In addition to this in house
welfare system, AGMS as part of its social responsibility has carried out
following charitable and compassionate activities on a regular basis;
- Spending more than 215 million Rupees for heart and other major surgeries for those who are unable to afford the expenditure
- Functioning a residential facility named “Sahana Piyasa” in Borella, to accommodate mothers of children, who are receiving treatment and arriving from distant places, at Lady Ridgeway Children’s hospital
- Payment of monthly wages to the entire staff at Vajira Children’s home, Kotte.
- Paying of monthly salaries to the staff of Gnanarathana Ayuruvedic School at Sunethra Ramaya, Pita Kotte.
- Supporting 236 families which do not have a steady income and suffering from poverty, on a monthly basis.
