20 If at all possible, ships should be routed
away from areas where attacks are known to have taken place and, in
particular, seek to avoid bottlenecks. When deciding on a ship’s
route the company should take into consideration the type of ship,
the size and maximum speed as well as the freeboard and the dangerous
nature of the cargo. If convoys are offered such a measure should
also be considered to avoid serious attacks on ships at sea. If ships
are approaching ports where attacks have taken place on ships at anchor,
rather than ships underway, and it is known that the ship will have
to anchor off port for some time, consideration should be given to
delaying anchoring by longer routeing to remain well off shore or
other methods by which the period during which the ship will be at
risk is reduced. Contact with port authorities should ensure that
berthing priorities are not affected. Charter party agreements should
recognize that ships may need to delay arrival at ports where attacks
occur either when no berth is available for the ship or offshore loading
or unloading will be delayed for a protracted period.