The use of private maritime security companies in a highly uncertain regulatory environment

Abstract

States have continuously tried to make waters secure for merchant ships to operate in. The problem of piracy has led to different types of cooperation between States but ultimately, merchant shippers found that these were better off protected by Private Maritime Security Companies (hereinafter referred to as ‘PMSCs’). Even though these yield the desired result, their legitimacy is an issue of controversy which is yet to be settled at an international level. This article aims to establish the main legal issues relating to PMSCs and to highlight the possible solutions to the latter.