해상무기고 관련 국제법적 쟁점과 제도적 과제

There has not been a successful pirate attack off the coast of Somalia since 2012, but the shipping industry’s demand for anti-piracy measures remains high. This demand has resulted in an increase in registered maritime private security companies (PMSCs). One of the major challenges for PMSCs that provide anti-piracy services for merchant vessels transiting the High Risk Area (HRA) is moving their arms and ammunition between coastal States that prohibit or have restrictions on vessels with arms on board. Floating armouries have emerged to overcome this challenge. There is a lack of information on the number of floating armouries, their use, the number of arms they store, and related physical and stockpile management practices. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has issued recommendations and guidance to ensure that the carriage and use of weapons and equipment by privately contracted armed security personnels (PCASPs) comply with the legislation and policies of their vessel’s flag State and of the countries with jurisdiction over the territorial waters and ports that the vessel is to enter. Nevertheless, there are no international standards for security or storage of floating armoury. On the one hand, there are legally-binding regulation systems under multilateral treaties, the Firearms Protocol and Arms Trade Treaty that establish common standards for the international transfer and trade of small arms and light weapons (SALW) and seeks to reduce the illicit arms trade. However, such legally-binding systems under multilateral treaties apply to floating armories properly, only if all flag States and States of PMSC operating or using floating armouries are State Parties to these treaties. Therefore, there is nothing to prevent any vessel being turned into an armoury in international waters, and if the flag State is a country with limited controls over the storing and transfer of firearms and ammunitions then such vessels may operate with no oversight what-so-ever. The growth of floating armouries and lack of oversight for such vessels is a worrying development. The lax regulation governing storage and rental of weapons aboard floating armouries exposes their weakness of illicit transfer or trade of weapons. If these weapons transfer to groups of terrorists and are used in crime and terrorist acts around the world, it may follows the most tragic instances of civilian casualties. There is an urgent need for international agreement between states on international standards for such armouries through the United Nations and its organizations.