Feral Jundi

Thursday, June 10, 2010

Maritime Security: Max Hardberger– High Seas Repo Man

Filed under: Letter Of Marque,Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 10:10 AM

     “My company has a new division called Shiprotek. I’m taking a team of ex-military guys to ride onboard ships going up the coast of Somalia and kill pirates.  Well, I shouldn’t say that — our aim is to scare them off, but our job is to protect the ship, whatever it takes. We’ll have one sniper with a Bushmaster .50 -caliber rifle, and the rest of us will have AK-47’s. There’s a chance that if we’re unable to repel the pirates, they’ll kill us.” -From Men’s Journal, High-Seas Repo Man, June 2010

***** 

     Max is certainly an interesting guy.  His background and life experiences are very colorful and I could understand why Hollywood would want to do a film about him. Be sure to check out his book Seized if you would like to learn more about what he has done.

     But this is what I was interested in.  In the latest Men’s Journal magazine, Max stated that he is taking a team to the coast of Somalia.  This is the first I have heard of Shiprotek, and I have not heard of any recruitment for this company recently. That’s great if he is hiring some guys, and hopefully we will learn more about what this company is all about.

     His other services are well known, and this is an interesting direction that he is taking.  If you are interested in working for Max or want to learn more about what he is doing, by all means contact him. (He is extremely networked online-Facebook, Twitter, website, Youtube, etc.)

   One final thing I wanted to mention.  Max is also an admiralty lawyer, and he would be uniquely qualified to discuss how a Letter of Marque might be applied to today’s modern piracy issues. I have no idea if he supports the concept or not, but it would be interesting to hear what he has to say. Also, this post is not an endorsement of Max or his company, and I am just getting the info out there for consumption. –Matt

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Max Hardberger.

US firm markets commando solution to piracy threat

Edward Attwood

April 23rd, 2009

US-based Vessel Extractions LLC (VessEx) has just launched a bullish new solution to the maritime threat off Somalia: the presence of protection teams on board ships travelling on high-risk routes.”The defense of a ship under armed attack cannot be left to an untrained, unarmed civilian crew,” said Capt. Max Hardberger, VessEx’s operations director.“Our highly skilled and well-equipped teams offer effective and cost-efficient protection for ships going in harm’s way,” Hardberger added.The solution, named Shiprotek, involves placing a team of ex-Special Forces personnel on board a vessel anywhere in the world, which will then escort through troubled areas. During the voyage, the team assesses the ship’s security situation, trains the crew in anti-piracy techniques and implements procedures to minimise risk.

Story here.

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June 2010 — High-Seas Repo Man — Men’s Journal

Need to sneak a 10,000-ton ship out of a third-world port without a security clearance?  We’ve got your man.

Max Hardberger has worked variously as a pilot, a high school teacher, a maritime lawyer, and a marine surveyor. But it’s his 20 years recovering and repossessing ships and aircraft—the last eight of them as head of his New Orleans-based company, Vessel Extractions—that we were curious about. Here’s his story in his own words … Click here to read the full article.

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April 6, 2010 — The Broadway Books Imprint of Random House Releases Max Hardberger’s Memoirs

With the title of “SEIZED: A Sea Captains Adventures Battling Scoundrels and Pirates While Recovering Stolen Ships in the World’s Most Troubled Waters,” Max Hardberger’s latest book takes readers on a journey through the hellhole ports of the world.

Based on his adventures repossessing ships and sneaking them out of outlaw ports, often under the guns of the navy or coast guard, the book starts with his extraction of the M/V Naruda from an illegitimate seizure in Honduras and ends with his well-known repossession of the M/V Maya Express from Haiti during the worst days of the 2004 revolution. The hardback edition of SEIZED was released on April 6, 2010. To learn more about the Maya Express extraction, please read the Los Angeles Times article below entitled “He’s His Own Port Authority”.  And click here to read the press release from Random House announcing the release of SEIZED.

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SHIPROTEK ANTI-PIRACY SERVICES (VessEx/Shiprotek)

Ship piracy incidents are increasing across the world, particularly off the coast of Africa.  Pirates have become more and more brazen in their attacks, targeting larger ships at greater distances from shore than ever before.  Ships and their crews typically transit pirate-infested waters with little, if any, protection against an increasingly sophisticated enemy.

The Piracy Problem

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Tuesday, June 8, 2010

Publications: Contracting In Conflicts–The Path To Reform, By John Nagl And Richard Fontaine

Filed under: Afghanistan,Iraq,Letter Of Marque,Publications,Strategy — Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:12 PM

     Now this is a better product and I can tell they actually listened to their contributors.  So bravo to CNAS for putting together a great report.  If you look at the cast of contributors, you will also see that they took advice from guys like Doug Brooks, David Isenberg and a whole bunch of private military companies and military professionals. For the record, I was not a direct contributor, but I know some of the ideas of FJ made it out there in one way or another.

     For one, they actually brought in Article 1, Section 8 of the US Constitution as a counter to Max Weber’s definition of the state. (the Second Amendment could also be looked at as a counter as well) I was beside myself when I read this in their ‘inherently governmental’ section, and I had to read it a couple of times to make sure they actually went there.  They did and bravo to them for having the courage to challenge this sacred cow of thought.

     This kind of sets the pace for the entire publication, because CNAS and all of it’s contributors were actually making the argument for the use of contractors in war time.  It is an acknowledgement of that ‘elephant in the room’ called contractors, and it is an excellent first step towards combining private industry and government for the good of the nation and the wars it fights. To me, it has always been about unity of effort and command, and ensure private industry only helps government, not hurt it.  If we can figure out how to achieve that unity of effort and command, I think the next step is what will really be radical.

     I have argued on this blog that today’s war planners, leaders and strategists should make an effort to at least acknowledge that elephant in the room called contractors or private industry.  We are getting there and I am enthused about the process.  But to me, the next level of discourse about private industry is how do you turn that animal into a war elephant?

     To me, it is not enough to just acknowledge our existence and say ‘oh well, private industry is that big dumb animal that we all have to get used to’. That is like using a pistol to hammer nails.  I would make the argument that instead, private industry should be looked at from a strategic point of view and the question should be asked is ‘how do we use private industry to help win our wars and maintain a position of strength in the world today’?  That is the next level of discourse about this subject, and that is the kind of thinking that could possibly lead to victory in our current wars. I say this, because there is a tremendous effort taking place to actually figure out how to regulate and utilize private industry during times of war, and this paper and current legislative action is proof of that process. So once we figure out how to shoot the pistol, as opposed to using it to hammer nails, we can then start discussing how to use that pistol in warfare.

     Now on to the paper.  Below I have listed some of the issues that popped up as I was reading it. Just little things that came to mind, that could help refine the product.  Ideas are cheap, and I throw them around freely here. I have also listed some interesting portions of the paper to give the reader a taste. Be sure to check out all of the contributors, to include Allison Stanger (she provided the forward). Enjoy and let me know what you think.-Matt

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Contracting In Conflicts: The Path To Reform

By John Nagl and Richard Fontaine

06/07/2010

CNAS

In both Iraq and Afghanistan today there are more private contractors than U.S. troops on the ground. This exploding reliance on contractors costs U.S. taxpayers tens of billions of dollars and has grown with inadequate government oversight.   This report – authored by Richard Fontaine and John Nagl – details the urgent need for comprehensive reform. The United States must embark on a path of ambitious reform that will require: new laws and regulations; an expansion of the government’s contracting workforce; a coordination mechanism within the executive branch; greater scrutiny, more transparency and clearer standards for private contractors; a strategic view of the roles contractors play in American operations; and a change in culture within the government.

Download the paper here.

Link to website here.

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Tuesday, June 1, 2010

Bounties: Mexico Offers Rewards For 33 Drug Gang Suspects

Filed under: Bounties,History,Letter Of Marque,Mexico — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:36 PM

    In Chihuahua City (1849) Michael H. Chevallié and Glanton may have influenced the state legislature to pass the Fifth Law over the veto of the governor, empowering Chevallié to contract with guerrillas to capture or kill troublesome Indians on an individual basis. Chevallié entered the first contract the next day, and Glanton was in his company on several successful expeditions north of the capital.- From Handbook of Texas Online on John Joel Glanton

***** 

   Wow, this is quite a list below.  You know, in my research on John Coffee Hays I also stumbled upon an infamous group called the Glanton Gang. These guys were contracted to hunt down Indians for a bounty in Mexico, and they used scalps as a proof of death.  The problem with this gang is that they ran out of Apache or Comanche warriors to kill, and they started going after innocents. In other words, the industry of killing the enemy was extremely effective.  But as soon as hunters violated the contract and tried to cheat the system, that is when the state put down the hammer.

   Mexico decided to put a bounty out on the Glanton Gang after they found out about their scheme, and that effectively ended the gang’s work in Mexico. From bounty hunter to fugitive, all due to a violation of the contract. If the Mexicans would have demanded a bond from these bounty hunters, I think that would have further kept hunters like this in check. Either way, the line of criminal behavior was crossed, and the gang instantly turned into criminals because of their actions.

   It should also be noted that John Glanton fought as a civilian scout for the US Army under John Ford, and was a Texas Ranger with Hays.  But it seemed that everywhere John went, he pissed off folks by killing the wrong guys or not playing well with others. lol So I would classify him as a guy who lacked discipline and was an extreme liability to anyone that used him. The book Blood Meridian is supposed to be based on the Glanton Gang as well.

   To get back to my point.  Mexico has a history of bounty hunting, and they have contracted outsiders before.  And seeing how the city of Juarez is now the most dangerous city in the world, maybe some consideration should be given to creating an industry that could clean it up.  They could issue Letters of Marque and Reprisals, or initiate the Fifth Law (what ever that entailed), and fire up the industry necessary to clean up these cartels. –Matt

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John Joel Glanton

John Joel Glanton.

Mexico offers rewards for 33 drug gang suspects

By E. EDUARDO CASTILLO

May 29, 2010

MEXICO CITY — Mexico’s government unveiled a list of 33 wanted drug suspects Friday, including three men allegedly tied to a cartel responsible for much of the bloodshed in the northern border city of Ciudad Juarez.

The Attorney General’s Office did not specify the criminal bands affiliated with each suspect.

However, a security official in the northern state of Chihuahua, where Ciudad Juarez is located, said the three at the top of the list belong to La Linea, a gang tied to the Juarez cartel. Rewards of $1.1 million (15 million pesos) were offered for each.

One of the three, Juan Pablo Ledezma, is believed to be the head of La Linea, said the official, who is with the joint army and police operation in charge of security in Chihuahua. He agreed to discuss the list only on condition of not being quoted by name, because he was not authorized to speak publicly about the matter.

A turf battle between the Juarez and Sinaloa drug cartels has turned Ciudad Juarez into one of the world’s deadliest cities. More than 4,300 people have been killed over the past three years in the city, which lies across the border from El Paso, Texas.

Five men were killed in a Ciudad Juarez shooting Friday, said Arturo Sandoval, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state prosecutors’ office.

The five were riding in a car when gunmen drove up beside them and opened fire, Sandoval said. Two of the five were killed inside the car. The others tried to flee into a restaurant but were gunned down in front of panicked customers.

The Attorney General’s Office offered rewards of $387,000 (5 million pesos) each for five other suspects on the list. The other 25 had $232,000 (3 million peso) bounties on their heads.

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Tuesday, May 25, 2010

Letter Of Marque: Did The Puntland Government Issue A Letter Of Marque To A Somali Privateer?

Filed under: Books,Legal News,Letter Of Marque,Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , , , , , , — Matt @ 11:14 AM

     If this is true, this would be a very interesting development that kind of slipped through the cracks last year.  I first read about this in John C. Payne’s book on piracy on page 104.  I was kind of surprised to find such information, and I decided to do a little snooping around on the web.  The only reference I could find for this was in the ECO Terra publication I posted below. That is it.  Nothing mentioned in the media and nothing mentioned on the Puntland Government website. I even scanned through the Puntland Government constitution to see if they had an Amendment that authorizes their government to issue a Letter of Marque.  It did not.(although they did come up with a new constitution later on that summer, so maybe their older one had it in there)

     That’s not to say they did not issue one. It is just surprising to me that there has been nothing mentioned in the media about such things.  So hopefully with this post, the Puntland Government can confirm or deny what Mr. Payne printed in his pretty extensive book about the subject of piracy.

     If this is true, I believe this would be the first modern use of the LoM in over a century.  (Or at least half a century if we can ever get a confirmation on the Airship Resolute LoM that was supposedly issued by the US during World War Two.)  –Matt

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From the ECO Terra publication.

MT SEA PRINCESS II and her crew of 15 seafarers (including 8 Indian and 2 Yemeni sailors) is free. The coastal fuel transporter, a 1,902 gross tonnage Oil Products Tanker built in 1977, was bound to deliver 2,000 tonnes of diesel fuel to the disputed Island of Socotra, when it was seized near Jabal Al Kalb off the Bir Ali coast by an armed gang on 3rd January 2009. The St Vincent & The Grenadines flagged ship is owned by Hodduia Shipping Comp. and managed by OSSCO from Hodeidah in Yemen.

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Monday, May 24, 2010

Maritime Security: The Greater Strategic Threat Of The Jihad Corsairs Of Somalia, By Dr. Walid Phares

Filed under: Al Qaeda,Letter Of Marque,Maritime Security,Somalia,Strategy — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 9:16 AM

     I had actually linked to this article awhile back when I was discussing jihadist privateers, and Dr. Phares had actually written a similar article with a similar theme.  So I just wanted to get this article registered in the database here, for future research.

     The best part of this article to me, was the use of the arabic word for corsair or qursaan.  This is what the middle east press call the Somali pirates, and qursaan has it’s roots in the French word corsair.  So I thought that was kind of cool, but I am not sure if the ME press actually consider the Somali pirate a privateer or practitioner of legalized piracy?  Which leads me to my next point.

     It is difficult to determine if in fact piracy is becoming the tool of jihadists or not. I would think that most pirates at this point are just in it for the money, and would claim an islamist slant to their project if it would help them to get more money or support for their ventures.

     A couple weeks back, I posted some stuff about islamists falsely claiming to take over pirate towns to get rid of piracy. In fact they were just trying to gain control over ports so they can make money off of the secondary businesses related to piracy.  Someone has to tax these pirates, or feed them, or use them for arms and soldier shipments, or provide a place for the wary pirate to sleep.

    But it is hard to determine if these Jihadist are actually investing in piracy ventures, or directing attacks in a strategic sense.  It would not be that much of a stretch for them to do so, and that is why it is important to keep this kind of stuff in the back of our heads when looking at piracy in the modern age.

     The other thing I was thinking about the other day, is what is the Islamic version of the Letter of Marque?  Is it the Fatwa or would you call this Ghazawat? Interesting stuff. –Matt

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The Greater Strategic Threat of the Jihad Corsairs of Somalia

by Walid Phares, Ph.D.Published 21 Apr 09

Most of the media discussion about piracy in the Gulf of Aden has drifted understandably towards the sensational part of the story: how are the Pirates able to roam the Ocean? Is paying them ransom a better option than to engage them militarily? Last but not least, will a military intervention against the Pirates worsen the situation; will it lead to a massive escalation in Somalia and a Vietnam like quagmire for many years to come?

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