Reporting Officer (PCASP)

The reporting officer, more commonly the team leader, of a privately contracted armed security personnel detail is the security professional aboard who liaises with the master, coordinates the armed guards, and reports security developments through the transit. IMO circular MSC.1/Circ.1443 (2012), interim guidance on PCASP aboard ships in the High Risk Area, addresses command and control: the master retains overriding authority, and the PCASP team operates under agreed rules for the use of force. The role is governed by contract and the BMP5 graduated-response framework, not by a binding IMO definition.