Wayne Harrison, ex-UK special forces serviceman, founded Easi-Chock after he survived a Somali pirate attack in 2010. Wayne and his security team kept the crew safe using improvised devices to lock doors and portholes and create an impenetrable citadel.

Following my experience, it became clear there was a desperate need for security products that were easy-to-install, robust and cost-effective.

The Easi-Chock range was created to offer an array of versatile ‘ship hardening’ devices designed to significantly improve ship security.

 

Easi-Chock

Easi-Chock is a lightweight door securing device designed to be used on both internal and external vessel doors. It can be installed in 30 seconds and withstands 80KG of resistant force. When not in use, the Easi-Chock can be stowed away easily and subtly. The Easi-Chock provides an alternative to homemade wooden baulks or steel bars, which are often ineffective.

 

Easi-Grille

Easi-Grille is a porthole protection grille designed to be installed internally throughout a ships superstructure. Unlike other products, the Easi-Grille requires no welding or dry docking and can be installed within 20 minutes. Once installed, it can withstand up to 1.5 tonnes of pull.

 

Easi-Block

The Easi-Block is a lightweight porthole protection plate, which fits to emergency exit doors throughout the accommodation decks. It is designed to deny access if the porthole is breached, restricting access to the door locking mechanism.  Like the Easi-Grille, it requires no welding and can be installed within 20 minutes. Once installed it can withstand 800KG of pull from an aggressor.

I created Easi-Chock to meet a growing need for ship hardening products that focused on both internal and external entry points on a ship. Easi-Chock is much more cost-efficient than traditional safety measures such as armed guards, water cannons and barbed wire, and from my own experience – much more effective. Current safety measures fail to fully recognise the danger posed after attackers have boarded the ship, whereas these products are designed to address this very issue.

Since Easi-Chock was established in 2013, the firm has hardened 150 vessels, including cargo transporters and tankers using sophisticated versions of the devices Wayne fashioned out of necessity during his experience of a pirate attack.