The invention relates to the field of ships which are provided with anti-boarding means in order to prevent pirates or the like from illegally trying to enter a ship.

Recently a large number of ships is hijacked in the Indie Ocean by pirates from Somalia. In particular large sea-worthy cargo ships suffer from this problem. In the first three months of this year no less than forty ships were already hijacked by Somalian pirates. The aim of these pirates is not to take possession of the cargo of the ship, but to demand a ransom to be paid.

At this moment warships, patrol boats and planes of the United Nations, the European Union and even from individual countries like Israel and China have tried to protect the ships in this region. A disadvantage of this protection method is that there are not enough warships, patrol boats and planes to protect all the ships which sail through these seas. Furthermore it is a costly measurement.

It has happened that a ships crew tried to defend their ship with a high pressure spraying pistol and self made Molotov-cocktails after the pirates had already entered their ship. The occurred situation was very dangerous for the ships crew. The ships crew defends their ship while risking their own lives. It may be clear, that this is a highly undesirable situation.

In another situation pirates were armed and started shooting at the ship but were unsuccessful in trying to board the ship because the ships crew had applied barbed wire around the ships hull. The disadvantage of this protection method is that the barb wire is difficult to apply. Normally, the ships hull is smooth and does not provide many fastening points. The fastening of the barbed wire is a labour intensive and time consuming activity. Additionally, the barbed wire needs to be removed again before the ship is allowed to sail into a safe harbour. Patent Abstracts of Japan of publication number 2002037179 and 2002037178 disclose an illegal embarkation preventive device capable of detecting invasion of pirates and capable of automatically checking embarkation. Steam or boiled water is discharged through discharge ports along a periphery of the ship to hinder pirates to enter a ship. A problem to the known device is that the device is inhuman. Pirates may approach the ship and will try to climb on board. At that moment, the device will be activated and the pirates will get in contact with the hot steam or boiled water. The pirates will get injured by the hot steam or boiled water. The pirates may get covered in burns. The known device which cause injuries to poor i pirates may further be bad for the good reputation of ship-owners. Ship-owners may get the image of being a mighty international company which use an excessive violent and aggressive device against local light armed former fishermen.

The present invention aims to at least partly overcome these disadvantages and/or to provide a usable alternative. In particular the invention aims to provide a user friendly reliable anti-boarding system which is safe for the crew and which is flexible in use.

This aim is achieved by a ship according to the invention as defined in claim 1. The ship comprises a hull. The hull has an outer skin. The ship has an upper deck which is generally at least partially surrounded by a railing or bulwarks. The upper deck may have a cargo space and a deck house. The ship further has an anti-boarding system for preventing an illegal entering of the ship by pirates or the like.

The ship according to the invention is characterized in that the anti-boarding system comprises a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles. Preferably, the fluid is a medium comprising water at an ambient temperature. The fluid is preferably dispensable under a pressure of at least 5 bars. The nozzles are arranged at least partially along the circumference of the part of the ship that has to be protected. The nozzles may be arranged along the circumference of the hull. The nozzles are connected to a pump unit.

Advantageously, an illegal entering of the ship or a part of the ship, like the deck house, may be prevented by the dispensed fluid. The amount of fluid or pressurized fluid dispensed from the ships hull or deck house may be too much for a person to resist. A person may be hindered in his movements by the dispensed fluid. Further, fluid directed to the sea surface may cause a whirl pool which may make it difficult to come close to a ship with a light weight watercraft. According to the invention, pressurized fluid may be used and/or a large volume of fluid may be used. A large amount of fluid may be sufficient to capsize the most of the times small approaching watercrafts of the pirates or let them sink. Farther away from the curtain an entering person may be captured in a cloud of sprayed fluid at the sea surface. The cloud may be caused by blowing of the wind. The cloud may take away the view and disorient the person. Herewith, an approaching person having bad intentions may be hindered to come closer to the ship. In an operational mode of the anti boarding system, the nozzles are activated wherein at least one of a group of nozzles dispenses a jet of fluid which may form a curtain. The curtain may e.g. be formed by parallel directed dispensed fluids. The curtain is directed alongside a respective part of the ship to be protected in order to prevent persons in particular pirates from entering. The curtain may prevent persons from climbing up along the outer skin of the ships hull or may prevent persons to enter a deck house. The curtain is created by a medium comprising a liquid and possibly some solid ingredients. The dispensed fluid may comprise further a gaseous medium, like steam, to create a cloud additional to the curtain. The cloud differs from the curtain in that the curtain is plane shaped and extends in substantially two directions, while the cloud has a three dimensional shape and extends in three directions. A curtain defines a shield, while a cloud defines a zone. Advantageously, the curtain of fluid has proven to be more effective than only a cloudy zone in prohibiting an illegal entering of pirates. The curtain has appeared to be more difficult to penetrate.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention, a nozzle may have a central opening surrounded by a plurality of holes. The opening together with the holes may produce a spreading jet which may form at least a part of a curtain.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention, the nozzles may be steerable with respect to the ships hull. The nozzles may e.g. be rotatable. A nozzle may e.g. swing in between to extreme positions to create a curtain of dispensed fluid. A nozzle may be directed downwards and sidewards to generate crossing jets together with an neighbouring nozzle. This may, advantageously, result in a more tight curtain. The movement of the nozzle may be controlled by a control unit. In a particular embodiment of the ship according to the invention the nozzles may be steerable to a position wherein the nozzles are directed to the ships deck. This may e.g. be helpful to get a calamity like fire under control.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention, the nozzles may be connected to a ring line which extends at least partially along the circumference of the ships hull or deck house. The ring line may be connected to the pump unit. Preferably, the ring line extends over the whole circumference of the ships hull or deck house. The ring line advantageously enables a simple configuration of the anti boarding system to supply in a simple configuration a fluid to the nozzles. The ring line may be a common conduit, wherein at least a group of nozzles is connected to the common conduit. Preferably, the ring line is covered behind the railing or bulwarks. This may advantageously protect the ring line against damage or sabotage by the pirates. The nozzles may be positioned behind corresponding openings in the railing or bulwarks.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention a plurality of nozzles may be grouped in sections. Each section may be separately activated. The group of nozzles may generate a part of the curtain of fluid along the circumference of the ship or deck house. The ring line may include valves to open or close some of the sections. Advantageously, this may result in a more efficient use of fluid. Less fluid may be necessary to keep illegal entering persons away.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention at least some of the nozzles are directed such that they partly overlap with each other. In comparison with a curtain created by substantially parallel directed jets of fluid, the curtain out of overlapping jets of fluid may be more tight and have less openings which advantageously further decreases a risk on an illegal entering of the ship.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention a control unit may be provided including detection means. The detection means may e.g. be cameras. The detection means may be formed by a plurality of sensors for signalling and subsequently activating manually or automatically at least a relevant number of the nozzles when a danger of illegal entering is detected. The sensors may be spaced along the circumference of the ship. The sensors may e.g. be radar based sensors which scan an area adjacent to the ship. Advantageously, by controlling manually or automatically with the control unit and activating only relevant nozzles less fluid may be necessary to keep the pirates away. Additionally, a captain or other board personnel may keep a good view from the ship over the area which is not provided with a curtain to control the ship in the right direction.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention, the pump unit may be connected to an available pumping system of the ship. Herewith, the configuration of the anti boarding system may advantageously be more suitable to implement it into an existing ship.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention the fluid may be seawater. The sea water may be charged from outside the ship. The anti boarding system may have an inlet conduit which extends outside the ship to suck up seawater. Seawater is always available around the ship, hence by using seawater there will never be a shortage of fluid. By using seawater, a large volume of fluid can be supplied to the anti boarding system. Thus, a large amount of fluid can be used to keep illegal persons away from the ship which increases advantageously the effectiveness of the anti boarding system. The seawater may be supplied directly to the nozzles or indirectly by first storing the seawater in a tank.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention, fluid means may be provided to supply the fluid to the nozzles. The fluid means may be connected to mixing means for mixing an additive to the fluid. The additive may comprise e.g. drag, colouring or soap contents to increase the effectiveness of the dispensed fluids. The additive may be favourable to damage a watercraft which comes too close to the ship.

In an embodiment of the ship according to the invention, the fluid means may be connected to heating means. The heating means may be provided to heat up the fluid. A dispensed heated fluid may be more effective in keeping away persons because of a creation of a cloud above the water surface. Preferably, the fluid is heated until a dispensing temperature of at most 8O ⁰ C, in particular a temperature of at most 6O ⁰ C. The cloud may disorient approaching persons and take away their sight. Further, the invention relates to an anti boarding system. The anti boarding system is suitable for implementation on a ship and serves to protect the ship from an illegal entering by a person. The anti boarding system according to the invention comprises a plurality of fluid dispensing nozzles. The nozzles are arranged along the circumference of the ships hull and are connected to at least one pump unit. When the nozzles are activated at least a one of the group of nozzles dispenses a curtain of preferably pressurized fluid. The curtain forms a shield and is directed alongside a respective part of the ships hull in order to prevent the pirates or the like from climbing up along the outer skin of this respective part of the ships hull.

Further, the invention relates to a method for protecting at least a part of a ships hull or deck house from an illegal entering of a person. The method provides to create a curtain of fluid by dispensing fluid alongside at least a respective part of the ship. The curtain may be created by a plurality of on board arranged nozzles. The nozzles may dispense a jet of fluid. The fluid may be dispensed from behind a railing or bulkwarks of the ship. Preferably, an anti boarding system is used in the protection method as described in this application. The curtain of fluid may prohibit illegal persons to approach and climb on the ship and may keep illegal persons outside the ship or at least outside the deckhouse. Preferably, seawater is used to create the curtain of fluid. In an embodiment of the method, at least one additive is added to the fluid. Further preferred embodiments are defined in the subclaims.

The invention will be explained in more detail with reference to the attached drawings which show a practical embodiment of the invention, but which should not be seen as being limiting. In these drawings: Fig. 1 A shows a top view of a ship comprising an anti boarding system according to the invention;

Fig. 1 B shows a corresponding side view of the ship of Fig. 1 A; Fig. 2A shows in a side view a ship having an anti boarding system positioned at the bridge; and Fig. 2B shows a corresponding top view of the ship of Fig. 2A.

Fig. 1A shows diagrammatically a top view of a ship 10 which is provided with an anti boarding system 1 according to the invention. The ship 10 is a cargo ship having at the back a deck house 11 and in the front of the deck house several cargo spaces. The implemented anti boarding system 1 comprises a plurality of nozzles 2 which are spaced along a circumference of the ship. The nozzles 2 are spaced from each other at a distance of at least 1 meter and at most 5 meters along the circumference. The nozzles are arranged to provide a jet of fluid under a pressure of at least 5 bar and at most 25 bar. The nozzles are configured to dispense a volume of fluid of at least IOIitre per second. The nozzles are directed downwards and outwards the ship. The nozzles can be activated to create a curtain of fluid along at least a part of the circumference of the ship. The curtain may be created by a plurality of jets originating from the nozzles. The curtain of jets may prevent persons to enter the ship. The curtain may prevent persons, like pirates, to climb via the outer wall of the ship onto the deck.

The anti boarding system 1 further comprises detection means 3. The detection means are provided to detect an approaching object, like a rubber boat with pirates. Here, the detection means are defined by a plurality of sensors 3 which are provided on board of the ship. The sensors are spaced along the whole circumference of the ship. The sensors may be positioned in between two nozzle positions at a height level corresponding with the ships deck 12.

Fig. 1A further shows a ring line 4 to supply fluid to the nozzles 2. The ring line is a common conduit which extends along the circumference of the ship. The nozzles are in fluid communication with the ring line. The ring line is connected to a pump unit to pump fluid to the nozzles. The fluid may be pumped from a storage tank into the ring line or directly from the sea water around the ship. The ring line may comprise a valve to open or close the nozzle. A valve may be arranged for each individual nozzle, but may also be arranged for a group of nozzles to open or close a section along the circumference of the ship. The valve may be operated from a remote position by a control unit, e.g. from the deck house. The control unit may operate corresponding valves in dependence of a signal coming from the detection means.

Fig. 1 B shows in a side view the anti boarding system of the ship of Fig. 1 A. As shown, the nozzles 2 are arranged above the sea water surface at a height level corresponding with the ships deck. The nozzles may have a fixed focus, but may also be steerable. The nozzles may be manually steerable or automatically by the control unit. Side by side positioned nozzles may be directed in parallel to create the curtain, but preferably at least two nozzles are directed cross wise to create a curtain out of crossing jets of fluid. The curtain out of crossing jets may be stronger and more difficult to break through.

Fig. 1 B shows an embodiment of the anti boarding system wherein from one nozzle position at least two, and in particular as shown three jets of fluid are dispensed. A first and second jet is directed downwards and sidewards to cross neighbouring dispensed jets. A third jet is directed downwards in the transversal direction of the ship towards the sea water surface. The three jets together form a tight curtain which is difficult to pass.

Fig. 2A shows an implementation of the anti boarding system on a ship wherein just a part of the ship is protected. The anti boarding system has nozzles which are arranged along a part of the circumference of the ship. The nozzles 2 are positioned on the deck house 11 at a level above the deck 12. The nozzles produce jets of fluid which form a curtain which make it difficult to approach the deck house. The anti boarding system is arranged below the windows of a steering cabin to keep sight for the ships crew, such that the ship can sail further a more save place. The shown deck house 11 represents the protected part of the ship. In case of an illegal entry by pirates, the ships crew can retreat to the save deck house. Generally, the main purpose of the pirates is to hijack the ship and take hostage of the ships crew to get a ransom. By keeping the deck house as a save place on board of the ship, the crew will be able to send out an emergency call and there will be enough time to wait for help to defend the ship against the pirates. In most cases, it will even be possible to continue sailing to a save harbour to undo the ship of the pirates. In the harbour it will be easy to arrest the pirates.

Fig. 2B shows in a top view the protected deck house from Fig. 2A. The whole circumference of the deck house can be provided with a curtain of fluid. The curtain may be formed by downwards and outwards directed jets of fluid. Herewith, the deck house is protected against attacking persons.

Besides the illustrated embodiment, a lot of variants according to the invention are possible without leaving the scope of protection defined by the appended claims. In a variant it is for example possible to implement two complementary anti boarding systems on one ship. A first anti boarding system can be implemented to defend the whole ship against an illegal entering. The first anti boarding system may have nozzles arranged along the whole circumference of the ship. The second anti boarding system may be implemented to defend in particular the deck house of the ship. The nozzles of the second anti boarding system may be arranged along the whole circumference of the deck house. Herewith, a double protection is provided wherein in a first step the illegal persons are kept away from the ships deck and wherein in a second step the illegal persons are kept away from the deck house. During the first step, the ships crew has time to retreat to the deck house and take further defending measures, like radio contact etc. The second step may often appear to be unnecessary, but will give at least the ships crew an additional safety feeling.

Thus, according to the invention a ship is provided comprising an anti boarding system which is implementable in conventional cargo ships to prevent an illegal entry of the ship. The anti boarding system has nozzles to create a curtain of fluid which may make it difficult to approach and climb onto the ship. Herewith, an effective and reliable system is provided which can easily be implemented on existing ships. In use the system protects a ships crew and is additionally not unnecessarily cruel to the illegal persons entering the ship.