Feral Jundi

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Maritime Security: Spanish Tuna Boats to Hire Private Security

     Excellent news, and my hats off to the government of Spain in recognizing the fact that security for it’s fishing vessels requires more than just bad language or hoses and deck chairs.

    The right to defend yourself in international waters is something I support. When up against pirates armed with RPG’s, AK 47’s and PKM’s, it is totally reasonable for a vessel to contract the services of armed men to defend against that.  I also support posting military details on these vessels, if that vessel’s government has the resources to do that.  In this case, Spain has turned to the security contracting industry to help, and we will do just that.

    The alternative is to do nothing, and that is just unacceptable in my book. –Matt

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Spanish tuna boats to hire mercenaries

September 17, 2009

by Alan Harten

The Spanish government has announced that it will allow its tuna fleet of fishing vessels operating near Somalia to hire mercenaries, or as they put it “Private Security” services, to defend the fishing fleet as it goes about its business in the notoriously pirate infested waters of the Indian Ocean.

(more…)

Tuesday, September 1, 2009

Podcasts: DoDLive–Dr. Michael Crawford Shares History Behind Pirates, Privateers, and the War of 1812

 

Click on this link to hear podcast.

Sunday, July 5, 2009

Maritime Security: All-Arab Red Sea Anti-piracy Force Proposed in Riyadh

    Interesting. I have no clue about the possible contracting opportunities associated with this, but I am sure we will see some training type gigs if anything.  Maybe Vinnell Arabia type programs will pop up for this stuff?-Matt

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All-Arab Red Sea anti-piracy force proposed in Riyadh

By Paul Handley

June 30, 2009

RIYADH (AFP) — Arab states of the Gulf and Red Sea said on Monday that they are planning a joint anti-piracy force, insisting defence of the crucial Red Sea waterway was the “primary responsibility” of littoral states.

Saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of piracy to the Red Sea or the Gulf, 11 regional states agreed to set up an all-Arab Navy Task Force, to be led at the outset by the Saudis, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The delegates to the conference in the Saudi capital stressed the “importance of the exclusion of the Red Sea from any international arrangements, especially the fight against sea piracy.”

Royal Saudi Navy commander Lieutenant General Prince Fahd bin Abdullah told journalists: “This subject is now under negotiation and we are hoping to reach an agreement to form this force.”

Joining the talks were representatives from Bahrain, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Sudan, the United Arab Emirates and Yemen.

Fahd said part of the effort would be to design ways of cooperating with the flotillas from some 20 foreign countries now patrolling sea lanes in the Gulf of Aden and off the Horn of Africa to stop pirate attacks.

“One of the objectives of the meeting is to discuss joint Arab coordination with multinational forces operating in the region to combat piracy and to agree on the mechanisms of the Arab contribution” to these efforts, he said.

He said that the Gulf states were involved in the proposed task force because of the danger posed to their shipping, particularly vital oil and gas exports which pass via the Red Sea to the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean.

A joint statement said the Saudi navy will coordinate efforts by the other Arab naval commands on the Red Sea and Gulf for a period of one year and then review the results.

Another meeting on the issue will be scheduled in two months, it said.

More than 70 vessels, including a fully-laden Saudi oil supertanker, have been hijacked for ransom by Somali pirates in the past two years. Despite patrols by a raft of foreign navies, attacks are still frequently reported.

Saudi Arabia has said in recent months that it has stepped up its high-seas patrols for pirates.

The International Maritime Bureau has reported a handful of attempted pirate attacks, none successful, at the southern end of the Red Sea this year, mostly in the strategically important Bab al-Mandab strait linking to the Gulf of Aden.

The bureau recorded no attacks in the Red Sea last year.

But the Saudi push for an all-Arab naval task force could also be related to what diplomats say are Riyadh’s growing worries over the security not only of Red Sea shipping but also of its essential infrastructure in the area, including oil facilities, power generation and desalinisation plants.

Story here.

 

Thursday, June 4, 2009

Maritime Security: Inside Story of Somali Pirate Attack

Filed under: Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 9:23 PM

The most skilled pirates, the ones who prove themselves by being the first to board a hijacked ship, are paid more, and are more in demand.

“That guy doing the jumping, he gets $5,000 (£3,050) extra because he’s taken the risk of getting hit by anything coming from the crew. And it’s something good for his CV, to show to other investors.” 

   Excellent article about the methods used by these modern day pirates and the business dealings of the investors. I had to laugh at this quote up top as well.  I guess the next step is for these veteran ‘ship jumpers’ to put on some certification courses for other pirate wannabes so they can put it on their CV and make the big money. Or how about the RPG  and Speed Boat rental business? (throw in a jet ski from the movie Water World and now we are talking) Maybe Jihadi Tactical will be offering their latest line up of piracy vests, complete with re-sealable Khat freshness pouch and kydex machete sheath? lol –Matt

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Waterworld Jet Ski 

A jet ski from the movie Water World. 

By Rob Walker 

BBC, Hargeisa 

Thursday, 4 June 2009

As he looked at the radar screen Captain Andrey Nozhkin immediately feared the worst. A small vessel was closing fast from the stern.

“It was like a firecracker had gone off inside my head,” he recalled.

“ There was total chaos ” 

Capt Andrey Nozhkin CEC Future

The Danish-owned merchant ship, the CEC Future, had been on high alert since it entered the Gulf of Aden, the narrow strip of water between Somalia and Yemen. Fire hoses had been made ready to help repel a possible attack by pirates who infest the area.

The crew were maintaining constant contact with coalition naval forces.

Then within minutes the suspicious vessel was visible: a speedboat, crammed with armed men trailing a wake of white foam.

“We knew it was pirates. They were coming towards us at an angle so we accelerated, and changed direction to make it harder for them to catch up,” said Capt Nozhkin.

But then a rocket-propelled grenade zipped across the CEC Future’s bows. Capt Nozhkin looked down and saw the pirates re-loading.

(more…)

Saturday, May 30, 2009

Film: Captain Richard Phillip’s Story Will Be Produced by Kevin Spacey and Company

Filed under: Film,Somalia — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 5:07 PM

   This is the latest thing I guess, and we will see if they actually produce a good film about Captain Richard Phillip’s ordeal off the coast of Somalia. –Matt

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Heavy hitters are on board for piracy drama

Rescued freighter captain’s story will be produced by Scott Rudin, Michael DeLuca and Kevin Spacey.

By PATRICK GOLDSTEIN

May 30, 2009

Earlier this week, Sony announced that it had acquired the rights to the story of Richard Phillips, the captain of the Maersk Alabama freighter that was captured by Somali pirates, prompting a tense showdown that resulted in Phillips’ rescue by Navy SEALs on the high seas. The studio also purchased the film rights to Phillips’ upcoming memoirs.

The interesting angle, for those of us who follow the inside workings of Hollywood, is the lineup of producers attached to the project. It’s quite a murderer’s row of talent, notably Scott Rudin, Michael DeLuca and Kevin Spacey, along with his producing partner Dana Brunetti.

How did that formidable team manage to converge? Mark Roybal, who heads Rudin’s production company, had approached Sony about doing a movie about Phillips while events were still unfolding. Meanwhile, Spacey and Brunetti, who had shared producer chores on the film “21” with DeLuca, made contact with Phillips’ family shortly after he was rescued. “Kevin went to Vermont to meet Phillips and his family, who agreed to work with us on a film project,” DeLuca told me during a recent conversation. “We developed a take on the framework of the picture, went to Sony and they put in an offer to lock up the material.”

Since Rudin had already approached the studio as well, the Spacey-Brunetti-DeLuca group agreed to link up with him. As it turns out, the producers were already in business together, having teamed up to make a film at Sony about the creation of Facebook, with a script by Aaron Sorkin. “We’ve had such a good time working together on the Facebook project that it was an easy call to team up again,” DeLuca said. “No one has access to top of the line A-list talent the way Scott does, so his involvement will really be a big benefit for the project.”

(more…)

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