I haven’t heard anything about Guardian GBS Security before, nor do I know anything about this warship they contracted out. But if true, then that is pretty damn cool. Although Blackwater is probably scratching their head right now, as they try to sell the MacArthur while it rusts away in Spain. If any of my Danish readers would like to add more to this story, I am all ears. –Matt
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Maersk hires war ship to protect tanker
Monday, 04 January 2010
Danish shippers are taking more extreme measures to provide safety for the fleets sailing in pirate waters
Danish shipper A.P. Moller Maersk has hired out soldiers and a warship from Tanzania to protect its fleet in pirate-ridden waters off the coast of Africa, and now other shippers are expected to follow suit.
Maersk hired the warship through former special forces soldiers working for firm Guardian GBS security in December 2008. The ship was charged with protecting the Brigit Maersk tanker from pirates. It is unknown how much the shipping company paid for the service.
‘The waters east of Africa are a grey zone because developing countries don’t have resources to fight pirates. It’s a temporary solution that a shipper has hired a warship from another country, but there’s no alternative,’ said Jan Fritz Hansen, vice-president of the Danish Shipowners’ Association.
Steffen Jacobsen, technical director at Maersk Tankers, said the company checked first to make sure the move was legal.
‘That’s why we chose it as an alternative solution to a very critical situation,’ he said.
It is not the first time a Danish shipper has hired out military protection for traversing shipping routes off the coast of Africa. Norden previously hired out an armed security ship to accompany its vessels in the area, and the company’s senior vice-president, Lars Lundegaard, said he wouldn’t rule out hiring a war ship from the Tanzanian navy in the future.
However, military expert Lars Bangert Struwe from the Danish Institute for Military Studies fears it could be a dangerous development.
‘In the short term it could be a good solution for Maersk. But long-term, it’s a dangerous development because it will make poor African countries reliant on private companies’ money to run their militaries.’
Story here.