A PRIVATE navy of small gunboats, likely to fly the Cypriot flag, is expected to be on patrol in five months to escort ships and protect them against pirate attack as they transit the Gulf of Aden.

"The bullet-proof boats will charge about US$30,000 per ship travelling in a convoy of around four vessels over three to four days," Convoy Escort CEO Angus Campbell told Bloomberg.

"We are going to be a deterrent. We are not in the business of looking for trouble, but if anybody tries to attack a vessel we are escorting, our security teams will deploy force if they have to act in self defence."

The private marine patrol has been organised by Convoy Escort Programme Ltd and backed by the UK insurance and reinsurance broking company Jardine Lloyd Thompson Group, reported Bloomberg.

The report added that seven former naval patrol boats, each with eight armed guards on board, will be deployed. If things go smoothly, there will be a second stage adding 11 gun boats.

This project requires about $30 million from investors for boat purchase, Campbell said, adding that the second stage will need a $50 million investment and venture funds, oil companies and marine insurers are among possible investors.

The proposal for a private naval force was put forward more than a year ago and encountered delays in getting a state jurisdiction to register its ships.

"Cyprus agreed to add the ships last month, following a US State Department's veto for registration in the Marshall Islands," Mr Campbell said. (Under the Compact of Free Association (COFA) between the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the United States, the US has full international defence authority and responsibilities in exchange for financial guarantees.)