PMSC (Private Maritime Security Company)

A private maritime security company supplies privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) and unarmed advisers to merchant ships transiting high-risk areas, principally for counter-piracy. IMO guidance frames their use: MSC.1/Circ.1405 (revised) for shipowners, MSC.1/Circ.1406 for flag states, and MSC.1/Circ.1443 for the PMSC itself; ISO 28007:2015 sets a certifiable standard for PMSCs providing PCASP. The Montreux Document (2008) and the related framework address state obligations for private military and security services. PCASP operate under the master’s overall command and within rules for the use of force agreed with the flag state.