British Manufacturer Designs Anti-Piracy Mechanism Buccaneer Ship-Borne Shore Launcher

dWith the recent increase in pirate attacks in the Somali region, heavy emphasis has been placed on safety at sea and anti-piracy efforts by the EU in the Gulf of Aden.

It has recently been reported that, larger ships sailing through the area are advised to use measures such as CCTV, alarms, razor wire and water sprays to detect and deter pirates.

Having monitored the increasing incidence of piracy over the past years, BCB International, one of the UK’s leading manufacturers of military equipment unveiled the Buccaneer Ship-Borne Shore Launcher (SBSL) in late 2009. This system has been developed to provide a ship’s master with a flexible reaction system to incidents at sea, ranging from a man overboard to attack by pirates.

Using either compressed gas from cylinders or the ship’s compressed air system, the Buccaneer can deploy anything from single man life rafts, line or netting to snag the propellars of pirate skiffs to solid projectiles up to a range of 300 meters. Although significant kinetic energy can be delivered without resort to dangerous or volatile explosives, the SBSL is accepted as an essential safety and survival system.  As such it is a genuine non-lethal response and deterrent to pirate attack.

Due to the range of the system, an early demonstration of intent is likely to deter and dissuade an aggressor.  Moreover, the effect can be spread over a wider area, thus improving the chance of a ‘hit’ on smaller, fast moving vessels.  For the first time, the crew will be able to deal with an imminent pirate attack without having to resort to the use of lethal force.

Andrew Howell, the Managing Director of BCB International added, “As we are all aware, pirate attacks have become increasingly common.  Shipping companies have also agonized about the consequence of deploying or not deploying lethal force on their ships. This important new system solves that dilemma.  It is simple to install, simple to use and provides an effective solution to a problem that has previously refused to go away”.