Shipping Act Article 27-1

The employment of privately contracted armed security personnel shall be applied to vessel carriers operating R.O.C national vessels and sailing in sea areas with a high risk of being threatened by pirates or illegal forces.The vessel carriers specified in the preceding paragraph shall attach relevant documents of individual vessels for reporting to the shipping administration authority for filing and inspection. The shipping administration authority shall provide this information to the Ministry of Interior, the Ministry of Finance and the Coast Guard Administration, Executive Yuan.Vessel carriers shall order the privately contracted armed security personnel who possess firearms, ammunition and knives to embark (disembark) abroad, and prohibit them to enter any territory of R.O.C outside the vessels which have already reported for filing and inspection.Sea areas with a high risk of the threats specified in Paragraph 1 are to be announced by the shipping administration authority.Regulations governing the procedures of reporting for filing and inspection, vessel documents required to be attached, navigation plan, employment plans, documents of insurance plans and regulations governing the management, application rules, record and other requirements for private armed security personnel and their possession or use of firearms, ammunition, knives on the vessel should be prescribed by the competent authority in conjunction with the Ministry of Interior , the Ministry of Justice, the Ministry of Finance and the Coast Guard Administration, Executive Yuan.The shipping administration authority should collect relevant unified information of foreign national private maritime security companies for vessel carriers’ reference.