Contractors as a Second Best Option: The Italian Hybrid Approach to Maritime Security

Initially based mainly on the use of Navy Vessel Protection Detachments (VPDs) paid by shipowners, Italian maritime security legislation also allows for the use of Privately Contracted Armed Security Personnel (PCASP) when VPDs are not available. Hence, Italy has adopted a hybrid antipiracy approach that entails two different forms of private sector involvement: the financing and partial control of public military forces by the maritime industry and the provision of armed security by PCASP, an option that includes Private Military and Security Companies (PMSCs). This opening to the commercial sector is significant as one of the first of its kind in a state that has adopted a tight monopoly over the provision of armed services and can be explained as the interplay between the willingness to respond to the needs of the maritime industry and a long-standing resistance against loosening state control over the use of force.