Thursday, July 21, 2011
Cool Stuff: TED–Paul Romer: The World’s First Charter City?
Maritime Security: Germany Authorizes Their Ships To Use Private Armed Security
This is good news for German private security companies and German shipping. With the blessing of their government, now they have a means of securing PSC’s to legally protect their country’s ships. The German shipping market is big as well, so this should lead to an increase of contracts for PSC’s in this market.
I also like the quote about the monopoly of the use of force. All I can say is Max Weber is rolling in his grave right now! lol
The government had until now always rejected such a solution, unwilling to give up the state’s monopoly on the use of legitimate force.
But seriously, this was the right move. If the state cannot provide that protection because of other commitments or a lack of government funding, then of course allowing private industry to contract with PSC’s is the next best thing. The shipping companies can also choose the best company that meets their needs.
The other interesting quote was the study that was done on how many shipping companies had already contracted armed security:
Shipping firms have started taking matters into their own hands, with a study published last week by the consultancy firm PwC showing 27 German ships already carry armed security men on board, with a further six employing unarmed security operatives. Just 17 percent of the 100 firms questioned said they thought the ‘Atalanta’ mission added to safety in the pirate regions.
The Association of German Ship Owners (VDR) confirmed the move towards employing armed guards, but said it was only a second-best solution.
If just 27 ships out of this survey group of 100 have armed security, and that only 17 % thought the Atalanta task force mission of protection was successful, then do the math? Not to mention an increase of attacks on German boats. The German PSC market should see pretty drastic growth now that the government is blessing this, and those companies positioned to be first movers on this market will do well. Did I mention that German ship owners control 3,500 ships, the world’s third largest fleet? Interesting stuff. –Matt
Ships turn to private security to fight pirates
July 21, 2011
German ships braving the waters off Somalia will now be able to officially employ private security firms to fight off attacks by pirates, after the government admitted it could not provide the protection itself.
State secretary in the economics ministry responsible for maritime affairs, Hans-Joachim Otto, said on Thursday that he could not answer the repeated calls from shipping companies for soldiers or armed police officers to accompany their boats.
“We don’t want desperadoes, so we are looking into a certification,” said Otto. He said security firms offering protection would have to meet certain standards. The government had until now always rejected such a solution, unwilling to give up the state’s monopoly on the use of legitimate force.
He said the number of pirate attacks on German ships had risen from 100 to 163 during the first half of 2011. The number of successful hijackings had dropped though, from 27 in the first half of 2010 to 21 in the first six months of this year.
Mobile Apps: Tactical NAV Smartphone App Directs UAV–Thwarts Taliban Attack
Excellent little story, although I would like to hear it from the security contractors involved. There is no mention of the company either. So whomever was involved, if you would like to confirm this here on the blog or talk to me in private, I can make the edits to show this actually happened.
The concept of the app is great and it would be nice to get some more details about this incident. Like how the contractor found out about the Tac NAV, and did it work as advertised? It sounded like he was able to communicate the needed information for this incident, and get a UAV over the attacking force.
On the other hand though, did the Taliban run because of the UAV, or were they only conducting a ‘hit and run’ attack and they happened to be gone when the UAV arrived on scene? That is why I would like to get a little more detail before cheering this mobile app on.
Cool stuff though, and if you have a smartphone this would be a good mobile app to have, just because it doesn’t weigh anything and you can store it indefinitely on your phone. –Matt
Tactical NAV Smartphone App Directs UAV – Thwarts Taliban Attack
Jul 21, 2011
Kabul, Afghanistan – With the number of private military contractors exceeding the number of troops on the ground in both Iraq and Afghanistan, a growing concern for keeping contractors safe is more pressing than ever. ?On June 28, a private contractor located near Kabul came under insurgent fire while located in an area where he and his American contractors were working. The contractor immediately called the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) tactical operations center (TOC) for military support, and ISAF personnel then quickly responded by requesting the military grid reference system (MGRS) grid coordinates to the insurgent threat.?However, the contractor was not equipped with a military GPS device or a 1:50,000-scale map to give the proper MGRS coordinates to the TOC. Instead, the contractor used Tactical NAV on his iPhone, and was able to quickly and accurately provide the assisting military personnel with his location, and also the location where the insurgent fire was coming from. As a result, an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) was dispatched to survey the perimeter of the base, and the insurgent attack was thwarted.?Developed for Soldiers by Soldiers, Tactical NAV assists troops in mapping, plotting and photographing waypoints on the battlefield and also helps Soldiers convey coordinates to other supporting units. Tactical NAV incorporates a compass, camera and a gridded map reference system to accurately pinpoint specific locations and relay that information to other users.Device Requirements:-iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad-Requires iOS 4.2 or later-5.9
Story here.
Wednesday, July 20, 2011
Military News: Marine Dakota Meyer To Receive The Medal Of Honor
Outstanding news and I am glad to see Dakota be recognized for his actions. I was also interested in his statement about what he has been up to since he has left the Marines. In this video below, he mentioned that he was contracting? Very cool and I certainly hope that whatever company he is working for, is doing a good job at taking care of him and his co-workers? Because if said company has been poorly treating this Marine and his co-workers, you are soon to get a whole bunch of negative attention and press placed on how poorly you treated a national hero. Not that this is the case, but I figured I would mention this just as a reminder of why ‘taking care of your people’ is one of the best business practices out there. Semper Fi. –Matt
Edit: Hey, thanks to Federico on FB for sending me this link. I guess Dakota works at Ausgar Technologies.
Meyer took a job with Ausgar Technologies, a military contractor based in San Diego. He travels from Kentucky to bases across the U.S., spending most of his time training snipers on optics.
Meyer said he sometimes thinks about re-enlisting, but thinks better of it because he has a supportive girlfriend who has read all the investigative reports and saw “the aftermath” of his deployment.
“I don’t know if I’d want to do that to her,” he said. “It’s hard to find a girlfriend who can put up with waking up in the middle of the night the way I do sometimes.”
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Company Spotlight: The Security Association For The Maritime Industry
I wanted to bring attention to this specific trade group, just because groups like this are great resources for guys looking for companies to work for. If you go to SAMI’s membership directory, you will see a number of companies that have signed on. Which is great, because at least if you get a job with that particular company who is a member, you can use the association as a means of keeping that company in check.
But like with the ISOA, if SAMI does nothing about complaints or does not have the courage to punish members, then what good is the association? It’s value in my opinion, is it’s ability to keep it’s members in check and keep them on the path of ‘doing the right thing’. Companies who treat their contractors poorly, or rip off clients, and who are members of these associations, in turn tarnish the reputation of those associations and the members that have signed on to such a group. So to me, it is ridiculous that an association ‘would not’ punish a member or expel them from the group, if they violated the codes that they and everyone signed onto.
The other problem with associations is that when a member pays good money to be a member of the group, and the officers and operations of that trade group depend upon those membership dues, then it becomes very difficult for these guys to punish members who do bad things. It’s like biting the hand that feeds you, and it is this financial component that works against the strength of an association–if they claim to abide by some standard or code of conduct. Of course an association needs operating funds to keep working on behalf of the association, but you can see the potential conflict of interest here?
Overall, I appreciate the efforts of these associations, because it gives the various clients out there another tool for their research. It also gives companies that believe in a certain standard, to gather and show their support for such a standard. These associations are also key to organizing industry, so that it can effectively communicate consensus. You can have a thousand chaotic and disjointed voices screaming for attention, or you can have one clear and concise voice backed by a thousand people.
But, I should also remind these associations that if you fail to listen and act on the concerns or complaints of clients, the public or the contractors that work for these member companies, then what good is your association? –Matt
Link to association here. (the website is under construction, and it is listed in my associations category for future reference)
The Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI) provides an independent regulatory trade association for maritime security companies.
Providing credibility, trust and respect, SAMI introduces a level of regulatory discipline and scrutiny to ensure that the maritime industry can easily identify reputable maritime security companies. SAMI provides reassurance and guidance, where none has existed before and establishes the benchmark for standards within the industry.
SAMI as a Non Governmental Organisation (NGO), represents the industry at an international level in a balanced and cogent manner with transparency, honesty and integrity.
The membership encompasses maritime security providers, consultants, trainers, individual operatives and the maritime security equipment, technology and hardware manufacturers – to provide direct links to the commercial shipping industry, offshore oil & gas industry and ports too.
