Feral Jundi

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

Kidnap And Ransom: Piracy Premiums Take A Breather But Menace Remains

Filed under: Kidnap And Ransom,Maritime Security — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:51 AM

   This is a first.  I want to thank the insurance company Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants who sent me this excellent article, and here is a link to their website.  Their intent was to promote that their company has the most extensive insurance plans for kidnap and ransom, and that other companies fall short in their coverage.  If you are a shipping company owner or yacht owner and you are reading this right now, feel free to check these guys out–but still, buyer beware. This is not an FJ endorsement, but I will definitely provide a link for your research.

   The real story here though, is that with all of this competition between insurance companies in providing K and R insurance driving down cost, as well as the increase in protective measures on the boats, premiums are dropping.  Now of course Reuters and the authors won’t say it, but I think armed security contractors on the boats are what really give them a better rating. That, and all these navies floating around and hunting pirates have got to help as well. But what happens when these navies burn out, and their governments call them back because of the cost?

   For one, if you read further down the report, there is already some buzz in the industry about starting up a private navy to help supplement today’s naval operations.  I personally think this is a move to provide a back up plan, if a navy or two decides to bow out. Piracy is not going away anytime soon, and I wonder how long countries can keep up their deployments–both politically, and economically.

   I also took interest in this Automated Voyage Risk Assessment system, designed to analyze a boat’s protective capabilities in dangerous waters.  AVRA I hope is a complete assessment system, that includes lethal and non-lethal factors in protecting a boat. If this is one of those mechanisms developed by the Juicebox Commandoes I keep talking about, who continue to promote non-lethal as the only suitable protection for ships, then I have no respect for AVRA. –Matt

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Piracy premiums take a breather but menace remains

Thu Apr 1, 2010

By Myles Neligan and Lorraine Turner

LONDON (Reuters) – Stiff competition and moves by owners to protect ships better has taken the edge out of insurance costs after pirate attacks off Africa’s east coast created a two-year boom for specialist cover.

But analysts say the menace of piracy is far from contained, and unchecked growth in the rest of Africa, possible attacks in other key shipping channels and higher ransom demands will keep insurers interested in the long term.

While official estimates are not available, brokers reckon sales of so-called marine kidnap and ransom (K&R) insurance have soared to about $100 million (66 million pounds) a year since 2008, when the product was first developed in response to an upsurge of vessel seizures and ransom demands by Somali gangs.

But the cover now costs less than it did two years ago, reflecting mounting competitive pressure as more insurers enter the fast-growing market.

The marine K&R market is currently dominated by six players, led by Bermuda-based Hiscox (HSX.L) and Travelers (TRV.N) of the U.S., up from just three when the product first became available, and more are expected to join.

“There’s an increase in supply and the price is going down,” said Sean Woollerson of insurance broker Jardine Lloyd Thompson (JLT.L).

(more…)

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Maritime Security: Marque Star Signs On Former Dell V.P. Steve Belt As CTO, And Buys A Boat

Filed under: Industry Talk,Letter Of Marque,Maritime Security — Tags: , , , , , — Matt @ 1:37 AM

     “We stand ready to meet any challenge. Marque Star is seeing tremendous industry response and is accepting deposits for any additional new contracts. We can meet the demand as we are rapidly growing our flotilla of capable ships to deliver customized value to our clients,” says Agbeli Ameko, SVP of International Business Development.

*****

   Interesting news with Marque Star, and they have definitely popped up onto the radar screen lately. At this pace, I will have to do a company spotlight on these guys. lol

   Now will all this activity transfer into an actual increase in market share and business for the companies involved? Who knows, but when I see folks making all of these types of high end business moves, someone is reading the ‘Tea Leaves’ and getting ready.

   They also bought a pretty beefy boat called the Archangel Michael, and for their sake I hope this doesn’t turn into a MacArthur venture for them. We will keep our eye on this one. –Matt

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Marque Star Signs on Steve Belt as CTO

April 05, 2010

WASHINGTON–(BUSINESS WIRE)–The Former Dell Inc. Vice President, Steve Belt, has joined the private maritime security company Marque Star as CTO. Belt brings advanced technologies which will better equip Marque Star in its Pursuit to Take on Piracy and Secure the World’s Oceans for its Clients. Steve Belt will be responsible for the worldwide deployment of Marque Star’s industry-leading Command and Control and Governance Systems.

As VP, Business Client Product Development he was responsible for 550 employees across four international sites, including Austin, Taipei, Shanghai, and Limerick Ireland, and worldwide Client Platform Hardware and Software development for Dell. He also was responsible for the Office of the CTO and Advanced Engineering organizations which develop and enable the technology used in Dell’s client products. “Marque Star’s vision of using advanced technology to protect their clients from all forms of maritime security threats, coupled with my background in the technology industry, was a perfect match. I am excited about the opportunity to join Marque Star and help bring the latest in high-tech to the challenges of maritime security,” says Steve Belt, CTO Marque Star.

(more…)

PMC 2.0: Cyber Bodyguards Set Up In Switzerland

Filed under: Executive Protection,PMC 2.0,Switzerland,Technology — Tags: , , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 1:10 AM

   I put this up as a PMC 2.0, because I believe we will see more of this type of thing, but at larger and possibly more dangerous scales.  Think in terms of a PMC or PSC that can offer to protect (both electronically and physically) a country’s cyber affairs?  Someone has to protect the cell towers, the server farms, the cables, and the online presence of that country.

   Not to mention all of that country’s infrastructure or finance that is tied into computers and the internet.  Countries like Georgia were attacked by Russia, physically and online. Cyber warfare is a huge topic in the U.S. right now, and it scares the crap out of today’s planners.  For smaller countries, a PMC or PSC that could offer full spectrum services like what I am talking about, could be essential for their survival and future stability. –Matt

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Cyber Bodyguards Set Up in Switzerland

Michael Cheek

Monday, April 5, 2010

In an effort to meet the growing needs of business people, the Electronic Bodyguards Group has formed in Switzerland to help protect business people from privacy and security threats in the electronic sphere. The group, formed by Peter Houppermans, a security consultant who helped build the UK’s Government Secure Intranet, brings together a variety of experts to address the threats.

The group markets its offerings to companies but also to senior executives and VIPs and is centered on the top end of the spectrum.

“VIPs typically walk into a less secure setup as soon as they leave their office,” Houppermans said. “Bodyguards only look at perimeter, but the guy in the carpark with a laptop can pose a threat as can a lost BlackBerry that cannot be remotely killed.”

(more…)

Mexico: Drug War Refugees And Comparisons To Colombia

Filed under: Colombia,Law Enforcement,Mexico — Tags: , , , , , , , , — Matt @ 12:16 AM

   Could we have a situation where violence gets so bad in Mexico, that we will actually see war refugees gathering at the border?  Imagine thousands of people, all trying to get on the US side of the border, all because things have gotten so bad in Mexico that the people no longer trust that their government can protect them. Things are already bad enough economically there, that people are willing to risk illegal immigration to cross into the US.  If you add the fear of violence caused by the drug war to the mix, well then now you can see how this is something we need to look at.

   At this point, we are just seeing the political asylum cases increase.  The next stage if things got really bad, is just camping out at the border.  If cartels are taking over entire towns, and the Mexican military is having to retake those towns, then you could see why people wouldn’t want to live there.

  And to follow this train of thought, where would we put them all?  Well, if things got that bad, I am afraid that my tent city idea that I brought up for illegal immigrants, would more than likely turn into refugee camps. When you start thinking about the problems in Mexico in this way, it really puts into perspective as to what the potential is and why we should care. I also think that looking at other drug wars like in Colombia are particularly helpful, just to get an idea of where it is all going.

   Finally, check out the last story I posted.  It is about a coordinated attack on Mexican army bases, by cartel henchmen.  That is a new chapter in this drug war, and I am sure we will see more of this.-Matt

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Will we see this in the U.S., in order to deal with a humanitarian crisis caused by the drug war in Mexico?

Worse Than Colombia

by Brandi GrissomMarch 31, 2010

The violence raging in Mexico’s drug war is worse now than the terror that enveloped Colombia during the 1980s and 1990s ever was, Texas Department of Public Safety Director Steve McCraw told state lawmakers Tuesday.

“Colombia was never threatened like the government of Mexico is with the level of violence,” McCraw told the House Select Committee on Emergency Preparedness at a Capitol hearing.

The committee and its chairman, state Rep. Aaron Peña, D-Edinburg, focused many of their questions about the state’s emergency preparedness on the current violence just across the border in northern Mexico, particularly in Juárez. “Each and every day we hear about killings, shootings, assassinations, kidnappings,” said Peña, whose hometown is about 10 miles from the Mexican city of Reynosa. While McCraw said the violence will get worse before it gets better and has already outpaced the scariness of Pablo Escobar’s Medellín cartel in Colombia, at least one border expert disagreed, saying that the United States would never let the situation in its neighboring country devolve into the lawlessness that plagued Colombia. “I think maybe he’s exaggerating,” said University of Texas at El Paso professor Howard Campbell.

Peña asked McCraw to compare the violence in Mexico to that during the drug war in Colombia. McCraw said the situation in Mexico is worse. The United States eventually intervened to help the Colombian government quell the violence and take down Pablo Escobar in 1993. “That hasn’t happened in Mexico,” McCraw said. Though Mexican President Felipe Calderón is trying to control the violence, McCraw said those efforts so far have not worked. “There has never been a more significant threat as it relates to cartels and drug and human smuggling on the border today,” he said. Juarez alone has seen more than 4,800 drug war deaths since 2008, according to recent reports in the El Paso Times, including at least 600 killings this year.

(more…)

Monday, April 5, 2010

Bounties: $100,000 Reward For Eduardo Ravelo–Leader Of the Barrio Azteca Gang

Filed under: Bounties,Law Enforcement,Mexico — Tags: , , , , , , — Matt @ 2:04 AM

   Let’s get this clown.  Eduardo supposedly had some plastic surgery done, and is doing a pretty good job of eluding capture.  But like the article below says, if you put a high enough price out on his head, someone will turn him in. If he had a hand in the deaths of Americans, then I would like to see that reward jump up to at least a million, if not more. Either a competitor, or some family member or former friend would jump all over that reward.

   This is also the captain of Barrio Azteca, and his capture could help put together the pieces as to who is training these folks.  Eduardo’s hit squads are very good at what they are doing, and they are very organized. Ed has also established networks that will provide warning and protection, much like most criminal enterprises.

   The quicker he can be captured, the better, and I do hope we get him.  Good luck out there, and happy hunting to all that are involved with tracking him down. –Matt

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This is pre-plastic surgery, so who knows what he looks like now. 

NEW TOP TEN FUGITIVE

Leader of Violent Barrio Azteca Gang   10/20/09

Eduardo Ravelo—leader of a violent street and prison gang operating out of Juarez, Mexico—is the second of three new additions to our Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. We are offering up to $100,000 for information leading directly to his arrest.

Ravelo heads the Barrio Azteca gang in Juarez, and is charged with a variety of crimes, including racketeering, money laundering, and possession with intent to distribute heroin and cocaine. Although he has not been charged with murder, Ravelo and his gang members are allegedly hitmen for a Mexican drug cartel and are responsible for multiple homicides.

“From everything our intelligence sources tell us,” said Special Agent Samantha Mikeska, who has been working cases related to the gang since 2003, “Ravelo is a ruthless killer who has absolutely no respect for human life.”

In Juarez, there is a war going on between rival drug cartels, said Mikeska, who works in our El Paso office, and Barrio Azteca is affiliated with one of them—the Vicente Carrillo Fuentes drug trafficking organization. The city, located on the other side of the border from El Paso, Texas, has had about 2,000 murders so far this year.

Barrio Azteca has approximately 600 active members who engage in murder, assault, extortion, human and drug trafficking, and other crimes. Many of the members are in U.S. and Mexican prisons and benefit from the gang’s illicit profits by having funds placed in their prison commissary accounts, Mikeska said. “They are well organized,” she added, “and they are dangerous.”

Ravelo, also known as “Tablas,” is believed to be in his mid-40s. He is 5-feet-9-inches tall and weighs between 150 and 180 pounds. He has a scar on his face and tattoos on his chest, abdomen, and back, although authorities believe he may have had plastic surgery and even altered his fingerprints. Ravelo is considered armed and extremely dangerous.We need your help. If you have any information concerning Ravelo, please contact your local FBI office or the nearest U.S. embassy or consulate or submit a tip electronically.

“If he gets picked up,” Mikeska said, “it will put a big dent in the gang’s operation.” The bottom line, she added: “Ravelo needs to be brought to justice.“

Link to Press Release here.

REWARD

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $100,000 for information leading directly to the arrest of Eduardo Ravelo.

Link to reward here.

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He’s called the face of Ciudad Juarez terror

Authorities say Eduardo Ravelo has helped turn the border city into Mexico’s homicide capital. Now investigators think he played a role in the U.S. Consulate slayings.

By Richard A. Serrano

April 5, 2010

Reporting from El Paso

Authorities think he had his fingertips altered to disguise his prints and plastic surgery to mask his face. Except for his dark eyes, federal officials doubt he looks anything like his 12-year-old FBI most wanted photo — round face, trim mustache and a scar along his cheek. (more…)

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