Reporting Incidents

Voluntary Reporting Areas

Cooperation with the military and law enforcement is extremely important when it comes to fighting piracy and armed robbery.

To ensure that these forces are aware of the intended passage plan of the ship and help them understand the vulnerability of the specific ship to an attack, it is recommended to report to the centres in charge of the Voluntary Reporting Areas (VRAs). This information will essentially enable the centres to do their best in using all means available as efficiently and effectively as possible to assist the ship in the case of an emergency.

Once a vessel has entered a VRA and has made an initial report, it is of paramount importance to continue with the reporting. This will ensure that the centres have the latest information about the ship's position and can in return provide the vessel with the latest information about incidents and threats.

A set of Admiralty Maritime Security Charts covering the various high-risk regions provides the seafarer with the reporting information for the specific regions to ensure effective voyage planning. It is important to note that due to the risk of piracy and armed robbery, and the intricacy of security threats within the regions, these charts should be utilised together with the Admiralty Notices to Mariners, INMARSAT SafetyNet Service warnings, and Navtex messages.

The charts clearly define the area of the VRA, enabling the companies and ships transiting and operating in these regions to join a trusted reporting scheme.

Positional data, suspicious activity, and incidents reported by ships in the VRAs, using the forms provided on the charts, assist in the creation of a detailed and accurate regional maritime security picture. The analysis from reports made in the voluntary reporting areas aids in the production of further up-to-date security recommendations which are in return shared with the seafarers, companies, and law enforcement agencies resulting in improved threat awareness and incident response.

Reporting System

It is recommended for all ships using the voluntary reporting system, to provide the authority and centres of the region with information on their movement to improve the military force's situational awareness about the ship and therefore aid their ability to respond. Once ships have commenced their passage it is important that this reporting continues.

These centres act as a primary point of contact for all merchant ships and their company security officers, in providing cooperation with the military forces in the region. The reports under the scheme usually include:

Centres like MDAT-GoG can communicate with the ships and their company security officers directly, circulating the latest warnings and advisories of incidents within the specific region.

Warnings are messages describing that an incident has occurred in a specific position at a specific time. In addition to the warning, MDAT-GoG will carry out a telephone call to all ships within a specific radius of the incident. This is done to ensure that all ships are given the earliest possible alert. Advisories are alerts to ships advising about the latest sightings and reports that are relevant within the region.

MDAT-GoG offers additional information to ships on its website and in its weekly reports summarising the previous week's activities. Additionally, Masters and CSOs are also offered the opportunity to conduct drills and exercises to aid their passage planning in the region in cooperation with MDAT-GoG.

Maritime security within a region cannot be improved just by the actions of the military forces and law enforcement agencies, therefore the seafarer can also contribute to improving the security and this is done simply using reporting. Masters and ships' crews are encouraged to report any suspicious activities sighted. The use of images, video, and radar plot data is considered to be extremely helpful to the responsible authorities. With that said, it is important to keep in mind that safety should not be compromised at any time while collecting such information.

Reporting an Attack or Suspicious Activity

When reporting an attack or any suspicious activity it is extremely important to have a common understanding to ensure that a proper report is made. The following guidelines differentiating between suspicious activity and an attack should be properly followed to avoid any misunderstandings.

Other events, activities, and vessels may sometimes be deemed suspicious by the Master and therefore it is left to the ship’s Master's discretion to deem whether to send out a report or not.

Reporting Forms

When entering a VRA (Voluntary Reporting Area) in a high-risk area, it is always advisable to follow the reporting systems as means of additional security.

The Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) is in charge of the VRA in the Gulf of Guinea. There are various vessel position reporting forms when entering such areas and these include:

• Initial report.
• Daily report.
• Final report.
• Suspicious/irregular activity report.
• Follow-Up Report.

It is important to note, that once a ship has transmitted an initial report upon entering the VRA (Voluntary Reporting Area), the MDAT-GoG will request additional daily reports to be transmitted. Upon reaching the designated port or anchorage area or upon exiting the VRA, a final report will be required. The various reports will contain various information. Below are the different examples of MDAT-GoG reporting forms for you to explore.

Where possible images should be included to aid the military forces. Threats in the Gulf of Guinea are extremely complex and most often result in injury to the seafarers, therefore the Master of the ship is encouraged to report without delay any signs of suspicious activity.