Members of the BIMCO Executive Committee Meeting discussed the issue of piracy off the coast of Somalia at a meeting on November 26.
The private shipping organisation with over 2,700 worldwide members said that the priority remained to ensure that governments continued to be committed and to recognise their obligation to provide the protection needed by shipping through appropriate strategies and the presence of adequate naval assets.
BIMCO said that the organisation had been exploring a range of options beyond those currently available but decided that any future strategic options must involve governments and their navies.
"BIMCO cannot progress concrete options until nation states involved identify and implement the necessary legal framework to arrest and prosecute pirates successfully," said a press statement issued by the organisation.
"BIMCO remains of the position that UNCLOS and SUA 1988 provide all the necessary instruments for governments to enact appropriate legislation and implement and enforce it – as this in turn will go a long way to deter piracy."
BIMCO said that it supported the development of regional coast guards of established littoral states with the necessary maritime legal infrastructure and administration.
In the short term the executive committee approved the further development of AVRA, BIMCO's voyage risk service launched in early October, which provides owners and operators with a pre-planning tool to enhance crew, ship and cargo safety and security through an automated web based service.
AVRA analyses the risk to a particular vessel across the spectrum of illegal maritime activities, from corruption and theft in ports, through stowaways and drug risk, to piracy.