BRITANNIA LOSS PREVENTION MAY 2020 A SHIP MAY BE THE TARGET OF SMUGGLERS SEEKING TO USE IT FOR TRANSPORTING THEIR ILLEGAL SUBSTANCES. DRUG SMUGGLING PREVENTION This guidance provides valuable advice on preventing your ship unintentioanlly becoming a part of an illegal smuggling operation. One of our Member’s ships had just departed from a Mexican port and was about 1nm from the berth when 2 trespassers were observed throwing 3 packages into the water and then jumping overboard themselves. Both the packages and the trespassers were retrieved by a small craft. Later investigations revealed that the trespassers may have come on board disguised as terminal employees. In this instance, no further action was taken against the ship or the Member by the Mexican authorities. However, several other recently reported cases have resulted in ships being arrested following the discovery of illegal drugs on board and in some cases the Master and other crew members were later put in prison. In one case, the Master remained in custody for several months without any formal charges made against him. It goes without saying that such situations can put an enormous mental strain on the crew members involved, as well as on their families. INCIDENTS SUCH AS THE ONE DESCRIBED ABOVE ARE UNFORTUNATELY SHOW THAT THE MARITIME INDUSTRY IS OFTEN THE TARGET OF SMUGGLERS SEEKING TO USE SHIPS AS A MEAN OF TRANSPORTING DRUGS TO MARKETS, TYPICALLY IN THE US OR EUROPE. IT IS THEREFORE IMPORTANT THAT MEMBERS DEMONSTRATE DUE DILIGENCE AND TAKE APPROPRIATE MEASURES TO PREVENT DRUGS BEING BROUGHT ON BOARD THEIR SHIPS. 2 | BRITANNIA LOSS PREVENTION | GUIDANCE Some of the methods of smuggling which have been recently reported to the Association include drugs being: SMUGGLING CAN TAKE PLACE IN MANY DIFFERENT WAYS, SOME OF WHICH ARE MORE SOPHISTICATED THAN OTHERS, AND TYPICALLY IT TAKES PLACE WITHOUT THE KNOWLEDGE OF THE CREW. • Concealed either with or within the cargo. This is facilitated by the level of access afforded to the cargo or cargo space, and is most commonly experienced on dry cargo ships, for example buried in the bulk cargo in the hold space or inside a container. Particular risks are associated with Pure Car and Truck Carriers (PCTC) and other ships designed to carry vehicles, with the latter offering various possibilities to remotely and easily conceal drugs in a variety of spaces in a vehicle, including engine bays, fuel tanks and even inside tyres. • Brought on board and hidden by “official” terminal stevedores, or by persons impersonating stevedores or other shoreside officials. • Deposited in watertight cylinders attached by divers to the ship’s hull below the waterline. This has been reported in South America, with the presumed intention that the cylinders were to be removed from the hull at one of the ship’s next ports of call, often in Europe or the US. • Placed in a package attached to a pad eye above the waterline on the stern frame between the rudder and propeller. In one such recent incident, a watchman observed a small boat operating in the vicinity of a Member’s ship in Peru early in the morning. The port authorities were notified and an inspection of the hull revealed the suspicious package dangling from the pad eye. • Hidden in void spaces around the ship’s open rudder trunk, which have been accessed while the ship is moored or at anchor. The variety and ingenuity of the scenarios above demonstrate the lengths that smugglers will go to in order to t