Members are advised that the BMP 5 co-authors have agreed to revise the High Risk area in the in the Indian Ocean, and to subsequently pursue comprehensive periodic threat assessments for the shipping industry. A paper has been submitted by the Co-Authors to MSC 104 (MSC104/8/2) advising the Organization of this change.

The new coordinates of the HRA, which will apply from 1 September 2021 are as follows:

o   From position A (Latitude of 01 30’S on the Somali coast), a line to

o   Position B (01° 30’ S – 046° 00’ E), a line to

o   Position C (01° 00’ N – 049° 30’ E), a line to

o   Position D (09° 00’ N – 055° 00’ E), a line to

o   Position E (14° 20’ N – 057° 30’ E), a line to

o   Position F (the Yemen coast at longitude 053° 00’ E), then

o   Follow the Yemeni coast westwards and northwards, to

o   Position G (the Yemeni Red Sea coast at latitude 15° 00’ N), then a line to

o   Position H (the Eritrea territorial sea border at latitude 15° 00’ N), then

o   Follow southwards first Eritrea’s and then Djibouti’s territorial sea borders, to

o   Position I (the coastal border point between Djibouti and Somalia), then

o   Follow the Somali coast eastwards and then southwards, to

o   Position A.

This is a temporary revision which will subsequently be replaced with a new process which defines security threats consistently wherever they exist worldwide, ensuring that owners and operators will be aware of the level of threat faced, and mitigation measures that can be applied to minimise their effects. The first output of this new process is planned for January 2021.