Study On The Standard Contract For The Employment Of Security Guards On Vessels Of BIMCO

The entire international community and every shipping state have positively taken measures to cope with the piracy and hijack. The wild of Somali pirates has forced the emergent of a new industry——privately employed security on merchant vessel. These years, there has been a growing wave of this kind of companies; about200companies have registered in this field.New industry needs a system of suitable regulations. The regulations include administrative specification and agreements between the parties. In this field, Baltic International Maritime Conference (BIMCO) firstly released a standard contract——Contract for the Employment of Security Guards on Vessels (GUARDCON), which regulates the employment and use of security personnel. As a pioneer, GUARDCON plays a model role in the entire industry.This article divides into four parts. The first part gives an overview to GUARDCON. It talks about the background of the contract and the necessity and timeliness can be seen; it analyzes the basic structure and main terms; it also summarizes the characteristics. The second part emphasizes the core content, it introduces the achievement and significance in detail. The third part states the dilemma which might be faced when using GUARDCON, including law issues and practical issues. The fourth part mainly studies how we use GUARDCON for reference, it firstly scans the current situation and regulation of privately employed security on vessel in our country, then talks about how to treat and use GUARDCON, finally gives proposals to regulate and perfect the privately employed security on vessel in our country.