Patrol vessels around the world vary in size in direct proportion to the distance they are expected to operate offshore. High Seas boarding 51 a patrol vessel that can work comfortably at distances of 200 nautical miles and further from 52 . The vessel must have the speed, range, maneuverability, communications sophistication, and 53 technology to accomplish the patrol function efficiently. In total, this equates to the description of a 54 vessel. The problem is that not all member states have large vessels and the crews to run them. Still, we should discourage any thought of chartering a fishing vessel, or transport, or out-of-work research vessel and attempting to mount a 55 than qualified high seas patrol effort.

     The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has within its mandate to make trade and travel by sea as safe and secure as possible. To reduce any threats with the potential to 56 maritime security, the Organization develops suitable regulations and guidance through the Maritime Safety Committee and with input from its Facilitation Committee and Legal Committee. 

     The threat posed by piracy and 57 robbery against ships has been on the IMO’s agenda since the early 1980s. In the late 1990s and the early 2000s, the focus was on the South China Sea and the Straits of Malacca and Singapore. More recently, since 2005, the Organization has focused on piracy 58 the coast of Somalia, in the Gulf of Aden and the wider Indian Ocean. Currently, it is implementing a strategy for enhancing maritime security in West and Central Africa, 59 the region’s maritime security agreements. The Organization, with support and cooperation from the shipping industry, has developed and adopted several antipiracy 60 , which have contributed to the mitigation of the negative impact posed by piracy worldwide.