Feral Jundi

Saturday, January 12, 2013

Martime Security: ’20 Floating Armories’ In The Red Sea, Gulf Of Aden And Indian Ocean

Filed under: Maritime Security,Quotes,Weapons Stuff — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:03 AM

About 20 ships stocked with assault rifles and other small arms as well as ammunition, body armour and night vision goggles are scattered around the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, the EU naval force has confirmed.

It is not perfect, but floating armories are what companies have had to turn to in order to accomplish the task. Where as I agree that some standard should be applied to how these armories function, on the other hand, thanks to this practice, ‘armed guards on boats’ has become a success. We are getting closer to achieving ‘Expulsis Piratis–Restituta Commercia’.

As for these armories being vulnerable to attack? Why would they? The operators of these vessels have every interest in the world to protect their precious and lethal cargo–and they have the tools to do that. If a pirate group wants to take on one of these floating armories, they will have to contend with the idea that the vessel is armed. But either way, some sort of standard for the defense and operation of these armories would be a good call.

I also was not aware of how many of these things were out there, and thanks to this article, that was identified. –Matt

 

Piracy fears over ships laden with weapons in international waters
Private security companies rely on unregulated ‘floating armouries’ in Red Sea, Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean
By Oscar Rickett
10 January 2013
Private security companies guarding ships against Somali pirates are increasingly storing their weapons on so-called “floating armouries” in international waters, to avoid arms smuggling laws when they dock in ports.
About 20 ships stocked with assault rifles and other small arms as well as ammunition, body armour and night vision goggles are scattered around the Red Sea, the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean, the EU naval force has confirmed.

(more…)

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Publications: IG Review Of Best Value Contracting For DoS Local Guard Programs

Filed under: Industry Talk,Libya,Publications — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:41 PM

After reading the latest report on the Benghazi attack called Flashing Red: A Special Report On The Terrorist Attack At Benghazi, I came across another really cool report they referenced in regards to Best Value contracting. I thought it was pretty interesting and worthy of some attention here.

Here is the quote about it from the Benghazi report.

Though a few members of the February 17 Brigade and the Libya Shield militia assisted the Americans on the night of the attack, the security that these militias and the local police provided to U.S. personnel was woefully inadequate to the dangerous security environment in Benghazi.
The unarmed local contract guards also provided no meaningful resistance to the attackers. The Department of State’s Inspector General had previously found that concerns about local security guards were not limited to Libya. A February 2012 Department of State Inspector General (IG) report found that more than two-thirds of 86 diplomatic posts around the world surveyed reported problems with their local guard contractors. Of those posts that reported problems with their contractors, 37 percent said there was an insufficient number of local guards and 40 percent said there was insufficient training. The IG found that overseas diplomatic posts, particularly those in high-threat situations beyond Iraq, Afghanistan, and Pakistan urgently needed best-value contracting, which takes into account the past performance of contractors.
Recommendation: When it becomes clear that a host nation cannot adequately perform its functions under the Vienna Convention, the Department of State must provide additional security measures of its own, urgently attempt to upgrade the host nation security forces, or decide to close a U.S. Diplomatic facility and remove U.S. personnel until appropriate steps can be taken to provide adequate security. American personnel who serve us abroad must often work in high risk environments, but when they do, we must provide them with adequate security. That clearly was not the case in Benghazi on September 11, 2012.
Recommendation: The Department must conduct a review of its local guard programs and particularly the use of local guard contractors at high-risk posts who do not meet appropriate standards necessary for the protection of our personnel or facilities.

Did you read that highlight? Urgently needed Best Value contracting….. and this is the IG saying this. lol Myself and others have been promoting the concept for awhile now and at least the IG get’s it. It sounds like DoS is starting to see the light as well.

The one interesting point that was discussed is the 10 percent price preference rule and how local guard force companies were just partnering with US companies in order to qualify. Here is a quote:

U.S. companies or qualified joint ventures “shall be evaluated by reducing the bid by 10 percent.” Based on an examination of contract competition documents for 35 local guard contracts, OIG found that the 10 percent price preference given to qualifying U.S. companies had no effect on the outcome of the awards. OIG further determined that it is easy for foreign companies wishing to take advantage of the price preference to become eligible by simply forming a joint venture with a U.S. company, thus largely negating the purpose of the preference.

So private industry found a loophole and exploited it to win contracts. With that said, I agree with the IG’s take on the 10 percent rule, and that it needs to be changed in order for it to be effective. Here is their suggestion.

Review the need for a 10 percent price preference given to U.S. companies bidding on local guard contracts because the preference has not been demonstrated to be a factor in recent local guard competitions.

Check it out below and it will be located in my Scribd or here on the blog for future reference. –Matt

 

Maritime Security: Typhon–Yet Another Bid At A Private Navy

Filed under: Letter Of Marque,Maritime Security,United Kingdom — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:07 AM

What better way to start the new year off than with a post about another private navy? lol The last couple of years, I have been posting about the Jardine Lloyd Thompson CEP ‘private navy’. With that venture, they made a lot of promotional announcements, but never got it off the ground.  Funding of such a thing is the problem, and we will see how this new private navy venture by Typhon does in their drive to get set up.

So lets look at the business model, as was stated by Typhon in January of last year.

“A huge difference between our model and others is that we will negotiate reduced insurance rates. Rates have skyrocketed because it’s costing the industry $10bn-$12bn a year when you add everything up. Ransoms alone are $800m-$1.2bn.”
South Korea reportedly paid $25m to reclaim a ship last year. “And then that’s the new bar. It throws out Lloyds’ actuarial valuations,” says Sharp. “You have no idea what to charge as a premium. For my clients, we can take out some of the risk. I’ve got a letter from a Lloyds broker saying we can offer a 50pc discount on rates. That more than caters for our services.”

You know, in fairness to potential clients, the company should post that letter from Lloyds on their website. Matter of fact, they should do a lot of things with their website in order to spell out exactly what they are all about because it is ‘vacant’.

Furthermore, when a company puts it out there that it is recruiting 240 former Royal Marines, you kind of think there would be some talk of that within the industry? I haven’t heard anything about it, nor is there any lively talk about it over at Close Protection World. I would also like to see this recruitment advertisement or maybe even a recruitment career page on their website, but there is nothing.

I do know that their website is registered in the UAE and supposedly they are based in Abu Dhabi. I do know that they made a promotional video for the company and concept, and you can watch that over at the gCaptain’s website here.

According to the article last year, they have brought on some interesting folks to run this navy. Here is the list.

The ribs will be manned by ex-Royal Marines, as will the group’s base in Abu Dhabi. Murray, a former French Foreign Legionnaire, will be Typhon’s chairman, with Lord Dannatt a non-executive. They will be joined by non-executives including General Sir Jack Deverell, former commander of Allied Forces Northern Europe; Admiral Harry Ulrich, ex-head of US naval forces in Europe; and Peter Ahlas, former chief of HSBC’s marine and insurance business. It’s quite a roll-call for a company that’s just completing its first fund-raising, of just $15m, and has yet to put to sea.

On a side note, Simon Murray has an interesting background. He did a stint in the French Foreign Legion. He is also a power broker and wealthy enough to make a project like this work. He is also partnered up with a non-military guy who I guess was the one that came up with the idea of Typhon. Here is the quote.

But Sharp himself is new to the all-action side of things. His career has seen him invest in start-up travel ventures from lastminute.com to GoAmerica, take AIM minnow Cashbox public, and launch Earthshine, a commodities distributor.
“I had the idea for Typhon playing polo one afternoon, thinking about what my next business might be,” says Sharp. “I picked on maritime security. Two years later we’re completing our funding round, acquiring our first vessel in weeks, and hope to be in theatre shortly after.”

It is always funny to me when you hear about the inception of an idea, like with Sharp’s statement of ‘while playing polo one afternoon, thinking about what my next business might be…’ lol  Polo or golf, it seems like a lot of ideas for businesses get their start during play.

No mention of a Letter of Marque being issued either. Here is what was mentioned, and it would be cool to hear more about the legal side of this private navy.

The Britons intend to sail under a sovereign flag which will give them the legal right to carry their weaponry into harbour, rather than cache them on platforms in international waters.

Interesting stuff and I wish the company luck in their goal of firing up a private navy. –Matt

 

Glencore chief Simon Murray launches private navy to combat Somali pirate threat
By NICHOLAS HELLEN
January 06, 2013

BRITAIN’S first private navy in almost two centuries is being created by a group of businessmen to take on the Somali pirates who are terrorising an expanse of the Indian Ocean.
Its armed vessels – including a 10,000-ton mother ship and high-speed armoured patrol boats – will be led by a former Royal Navy commodore. He is recruiting 240 former marines and other sailors for the force.
It will escort its first convoy of oil tankers, bulk carriers – and possibly an occasional yacht – along the east coast of Africa in late March or April.
Typhon, the company behind the venture, is chaired by Simon Murray, a millionaire businessman who joined the French Foreign Legion as a teenager and walked unsupported to the South Pole aged 63.
Typhon has been set up because the Royal Navy, NATO and the European Union Naval Force lack the vessels to patrol an area of ocean that is as large as North America, said Anthony Sharp, chief executive. “They can’t do the job because they haven’t got the budget and deploying a billion-pound warship against six guys [pirates] with $500 of kit is not a very good use of the asset,” he said.

(more…)

Friday, January 4, 2013

Year In Review: 2012 Google Analytics Report For Feral Jundi

Filed under: Year In Review — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:11 AM

My overall stats for the blog is 1,174,476 visits with 901,456 unique visitors and 1,832,601 page views between January 1, 2008 and December 31, 2012. (My first post was on the 22nd of January, 2008)

The statistics for this year alone are 379,064 visits with 642,625 page views. My mobile traffic really jumped up this year to 62,642 visits. (last year was 24,792) The top mobile devices used to peruse this site were Apple products like the iPhone or iPad. For Android based mobile devices, the Motorola based platforms seem to be popular.
I am very pleased with the progress of the blog and the process that I have gone through over the years. This is pure Kaizen and it is fun to see how the site and my writing style has evolved over the years.

Now for some of the highlights of the year. 2012 was a year where the wars began to draw down and contractors/companies have had to adjust. With that said, work has been steady and for the transition in the war zones, contractors have been essential. From training, to maintaining the toys that we have given Iraq and Afghanistan, to protecting folks who still have an interest in those countries–business is steady.

As for solid numbers, the last USCENTCOM AOR Contractor Support report listed 137,407 contractors. In Iraq, there was an increase in contractor use (WPS and support), and in Afghanistan we saw an increase in the use of US security contractors.

The increase in Iraq is due to the fact that there are no more military units to back up DoS and their missions, so contractors and the host nation have to take up the slack–which they are doing.

In Afghanistan, even with this new APPF force, we are seeing an increase in the use of a specific type of contractor–the US security contractor. The reasoning there is probable the whole green on blue or insider attacks deal, and cost. We are seeing companies like Triple Canopy taking on FOB security, using American contractors.

And speaking of the APPF force, I have been commenting on how pathetic that force is, and especially as the money dries up for Karzai and company. Just watch when they start playing around with salaries or taking from the operational accounts of the APPF? They will also be forcing companies to use this government controlled force, and I just do not have much optimism that it will be effective, or for that matter, survive it’s corrupt leaders.

For the maritime security industry, the big news is the glaring success of armed guards on boats. That, and the push towards an ISO standard for maritime security companies. 2013 will be the year where we will see an ISO being applied, and it will be interesting to watch how it impacts the industry.

Africa has been front and center with many in the industry, and especially as the wars wind down. Erik Prince actually started an investment firm to focus on Africa and that continent has been mentioned by many companies as far as future market planning.

The economic woes this last year really pumped up this industry. With less money going towards police because of a lack of revenue, and especially in the US, local companies and persons have increasingly had to turn to private security for protection. This increase in PMSC use was noted in this report that predicted that security services would reach $63.8 Billion in 2016! So security is a good market to be in.

Not only that, but because of some key incidents highlighting the importance of security–like the attack on a consulate in Libya or the Sandy Hook Massacre in Connecticut— we will see an increase in monies going towards ‘real security’ in schools or increases in security at overseas posts.

For my Building Snowmobiles category, probably my favorite post was either the EFP Quadrotor and or the General Hermann Balck post. Balck was significant because he was an inspiration to Boyd.

Another favorite category of mine is History, and many of my posts last year revolved around privateering. I did one post about Homer Lea and another one about the Apaches that were fun and really interesting to do.

On to my Legal News category, probably the most significant was the ongoing battles to get contractors released from prisons around the world, and the battle against the scam artists who give the industry a bad name. That and the ongoing efforts of the US government to create laws that will fix problems associated with contingency contracting.

For my Leadership category, the stuff written about G4S’s Nick Buckles and the Olympics fallout was the best. It is a profound example of what happens to a company when they do not care about good leadership out in the field. I also reviewed the impact of bad bosses and toxic leaders on organizations. There was also mention of those folks who are teaching and promoting good leadership–like Don Vandergriff’s Adaptive Leader or McChrystal’s Crosslead.

Jundism stayed steady this year with no big changes. Although I continue to see the concepts of Jundism work well when applied. You can also see what happens when the are not applied as you read through my posts in the Leadership section.

My favorite book this last year was the Apache Tactics 1830-86 book. One book I wanted to delve into but never did was the one on Homer Lea. I still want to check out One Ball Four Tracer, and that was a book that came out last year that is still on my long list.

Cool Stuff was another fun category. The Bug-A-Salt gun, used for killing flies was awesome. That and women rocked this year. From the Asgarda– the modern day Amazons in the Ukraine, to Lara Logan and her amazing speech on Afghanistan, women were the ‘cool stuff’ this last year. The entry of private industry into space with SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket gets a mention as well. Very cool stuff…

Syria is one country that was front and center in the news. Lots of homemade weaponry, as well as captured weaponry are allowing the opposition to take on the government there. The Assad regime continues to hammer back and that whole thing is a mess. If chemical weapons are used, expect things to get from bad to worse there, with possible involvement of the west. Jihadists are also hijacking the war there, and I expect them to do just like they have done in other Arab Spring infected countries.

Mexico continues to be a problem, and this next year we will see if a new President there with a new strategy will have any impact?

Mali is another place of concern, just because the jihadists last year were able to capture the entire northern part of that country. That is a lot of territory, and the west is still trying to figure out what they will do. Some say a Somalia model will be applied to Mali, as far as intervention is concerned. Meanwhile, the jihadists continue to strengthen their defenses and do their damage.

Gear Review is another category that needs mention. My two favorite pieces of kit right now are the Surefire P2x Fury and the Safariland ALS holster.  Although as you can see below, Google Analytics show that my hearing protection posts and Doug’s review of Palladium Boots is tops.

Well, that is about it for 2012. If anyone has any memorable posts from last year that they liked, feel free to post in the comments section.  I might even make some edits to include stuff that I might of forgotten. –Matt

January 1, 2012 to December 31, 2012 -379,064 visited this site with 642,625 page views.

January 1, 2011 to December 31, 2011 -337,320 people visited this site, with 528,224 page views.

January 1, 2010 to December 31, 2010 -307,256 people visited this site, with 436,213 page views.

January 1, 2009 to December 31, 2009 -129,409 people visited this site, with 187,698 page views.

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