VPD (Vessel Protection Detachment)

A vessel protection detachment is a team of a flag state’s military or police personnel embarked on a merchant ship to protect it against piracy or armed robbery, the state-deployed counterpart to a private security team. Italy, the Netherlands, France, and others have operated VPDs in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean high-risk area. Unlike privately contracted armed personnel, a VPD remains an organ of the flag state under military command and rules for the use of force; the Enrica Lexie incident (2012), where Italian marines aboard a tanker shot two Indian fishermen, produced a 2020 Permanent Court of Arbitration award on the jurisdictional immunity of such personnel.