NYK INTRODUCES SHIP PIRACY ALARM SYSTEM

NYK INTRODUCES SHIP PIRACY ALARM SYSTEM    NYK, the Japanese shipping group, has developed and introduced an alarm system in response to the worsening problem of attacks of vessels by pirates in Asia.
   The “anti-piracy seajack alarm” system sends an alarm signal via cellular telephone    to safety personnel ashore if other communications from the ship are halted while it is in a danger zone. Operated round the clock, the system gives notice of a possible emergency, as well as the ship’s position when the emergency occurred “even if pirates destroy the ship’s other communication equipment or cut off electric power before a call for help can be sent,” NYK said.
   Receipt of the signal from the alarm system will still allow onshore personnel to initiate a search for the vessel without delay.
   “The increasingly frequent occurrence of pirate attacks on vessels passing through the Indonesian water and the Malacca-Singapore Straits has posed an acute headache for operators of ships passing through these waters,” a spokesman for NYK said.
   In a related development, the Japanese government has approached the governments of Asian countries concerned to study specific countermeasures.
   NYK said that it also has installed a “Fleet Remote Monitoring System” covering the approximately 450 vessels it operates. The system communicates at regular intervals via communication satellites the locations, courses and speeds of the vessels. The system is designed to “keep a constant watch” over the ships’ movements, the Japanese shipping company said.