Feral Jundi

Monday, December 15, 2008

Maritime Security: Pursuing Somali Pirates on Land

Filed under: Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , , , — Matt @ 11:16 AM

 

   Here are some more hints as to the overall strategy for dealing with the piracy off the coast of Somalia.  Not only are we going to aggressively pursue these guys on sea, but go after them on land as well.  And it sounds like we have the blessing from the Somali government to do so, if the UN Security Council approves.  Secretary of Defense Gates mentions a few of his thoughts on the land game as well.  –Head Jundi

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Gates Calls for Action Against Somali Pirates

December 13, 2008 

By Camilla Hall

…….Land pursuit operations would carry a high risk of harming innocent civilians because of the difficulty of identifying those guilty of piracy, U.S. Fifth Fleet spokeswoman Lieutenant Stephanie Murdock said yesterday.

“This has become a very good business and the first thing we need is better intelligence on who’s behind it,” Gates said. More information is needed on the culprits to minimize any collateral damage from land pursuit, Gates said. “With the level of information that we have now we are not in the position to do that kind of land attack,” he said. With “adequate intelligence” only, land attacks may be carried out, he added. 

Gates also advised nations to prepare standard operating procedures against seaborne threats including piracy, terrorism, narcotics trafficking and smuggling. He said taking basic steps like speeding up or raising the ladders of the boats would be a good first move. 

Read the Rest of the Story Here

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Somalia backs U.S. plan to hunt pirates on land, water

12/12/2008

Reuters

MOGADISHU, Somalia — Somalia’s government has welcomed a call by the United States for countries to have U.N. authority to hunt down Somali pirates on land as well as pursue them off its coast.

A surge in piracy this year in the busy Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean off Somalia has driven up insurance costs, brought the gangs tens of millions of dollars in ransoms and prompted foreign navies to rush to the area to protect shipping.

The U.S. delegation to the United Nations has circulated a draft resolution on piracy for the Security Council to vote on next week. A draft text seen by Reuters says countries with permission from Somalia’s government “may take all necessary measures ashore in Somalia, including in its airspace” to capture those using Somali territory for piracy.

“The government cordially welcomes the United Nations to fight pirates inland and (on) the Indian Ocean,” said Hussein Mohamed Mohamud, spokesman for President Abdullahi Yusuf.

“We’re also willing to give them a hand in case they need our assistance,” he said.

Somalia has seen continuous conflict since 1991 and its weak, Western-backed government is still fighting Islamist insurgents.

The chaos has helped fuel the explosion in piracy: There have been nearly 100 attacks in Somali waters this year, despite the presence of several foreign warships. Gunmen are holding about a dozen ships and nearly 300 crewmembers.

Among the captured vessels are a Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million of crude oil and a Ukrainian cargo ship carrying about 30 Soviet-era tanks.

There already are several international naval operations off Somalia, including a NATO anti-piracy mission. The European Union agreed Monday to launch anti-piracy naval operations in the area.

The U.N. special envoy to Somalia, Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, said Thursday that the pirates were “threatening the very freedom and safety of maritime trade routes, affecting not only Somalia and the region, but also a large percentage of world trade.”

Story Here

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U.S. Proposes Going Ashore to Hunt Pirates

December 11, 2008

By NEIL MacFARQUHAR

UNITED NATIONS — In an effort to curb piracy off Somalia’s coast, the United States began circulating a Security Council resolution on Wednesday that would significantly beef up interdiction efforts by permitting foreign forces to attack pirate bases on land.

(more…)

Saturday, December 13, 2008

Kidnap and Ransom: How Do You Pay a Pirate’s Ransom?

Filed under: Kidnap And Ransom,Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , — Matt @ 2:48 PM

 How do you pay a pirate’s ransom?

By Robyn Hunter

BBC News

03/12/2008

Pirates in Somalia are making a fortune by hijacking ships and demanding ransoms to set them and their crews free – one official estimates the total this year to be around $150m.

There are conflicting reports about how much they want for the Saudi oil tanker they seized last month, the Sirius Star, and its cargo of two million barrels of oil, but how do you negotiate and deliver a pirate ransom in the 21st Century?

From what can be gleaned – how the negotiations run their course and how the ransoms are paid – what goes on would be worthy of a Hollywood action movie script.

“No matter what process is taken, they always go through a middleman,” advises BBC Somali service analyst Said Musa. “And trust is at the heart of everything.”

(more…)

Thursday, December 11, 2008

Maritime Security: Company Spotlight, Espada Logistics and Security Group

Filed under: Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 12:06 PM

Edit: 06/09/2011- At this time, Feral Jundi does not endorse this company.  I have received multiple negative reports from contractors that have worked in this company, and I am not at all impressed with the way they are operating. Buyer beware….Feel free to email me if you have any questions.

 

Espada Logistics and Security Group Expands Its Maritime Security Operations to Combat Pirates in the Gulf of Aden

Wednesday December 10

Espada Logistics and Security Group (www.espadaservices.com), a privately held company, announced today that it has expanded its base of operation from South America to the Gulf of Aden by providing onsite security and consulting services to the maritime industry.

“Despite the increase in military patrols from NATO, Russia and the Indian Navy, Somali pirates have increased their attacks against the ships that transit this region,” Jim Jorrie, the president of Espada Logistics and Security Group, said.

“This was a natural fit for us as we already had a large roster of ex-Special Forces personnel with anti-piracy and anti-insurgent operations experience,” Jorrie added. “Our desire is avoid a conflict in the first place, but if necessary our highly trained and experienced team members can quickly and successfully defend a customer’s assets from a pirate attack.”

(more…)

Friday, December 5, 2008

Maritime Security: Export Law Blog and Anti-piracy

Filed under: Legal News,Maritime Security — Tags: , , , — Matt @ 11:56 PM

   Another gem.  These guys have a couple of awesome posts about the legalities of conducting anti-piracy operations out on the high seas.  They specifically talk about Blackwater and what they can or cannot do out there.  –Head Jundi

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export law blog

About ExportLawBlog

ExportLawBlog is written and maintained by Clif Burns, Carolyn Lindsey, Illya Antonenko and Martin Gold.

  

Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Maritime Security: Anti Piracy Maritime Security Services (Non-Lethal)

Filed under: Maritime Security,Somalia — Tags: , , — Matt @ 1:50 AM

   This is the press release by the company in regards to that incident where the guards abandoned ship off the coast of Somalia after being attacked by pirates.  I am kind of curious, how do you use “sustained non-lethal resistance” against RPG’s and AK 47’s? I also love how the company really promotes the “non-lethal” concept all over the website.  I wonder how many Somali pirates cruise the internet, and read this stuff?  I imagine with all that money they keep getting off of take downs, they have bought not only sat phones and GPS units, but also computers. Hell, Ali is probably reading this stuff on his brand new Mac, while chewing on some Khat right now.

     I will say it. This is crap.  To sell this concept of non-lethal security services, in a very lethal area, is just crap.  It is wrong to sell the shipping companies on the concept, it is pathetic that the shipping companies are buying off on this, it is almost criminal to put your guard’s lives at risk like this, and a contractor that signed on for this kind of job should know better. Not to mention that the client is getting some terrible protective service for the money.

  My feelings about this is simple, defend the ship and the client with the appropriate force(lethal in this situation), and get out of this business of using less than lethal in really dangerous places.  Obviously the LRAD and water cannon did not work in this situation, and the pirates are wising up.  God help us if they decide to wear ear plugs and a scuba mask on future attacks? –Matt

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MV BISCAGLIA : PIRATE ATTACK 28 Nov 08

APMSS PRESS RELEASE 2

15:00 UTC 28th Nov 2008

Nick Davis, Director of APMSS, has issued the following statement:

Attributable quote

“APMSS security team embarked upon MV BISCAGLIA came under sustained and heavy attack from pirates earlier this morning. Reports remain confused however we believe that the embarked 3 man APMSS security team (comprising former British military servicemen) were able to mount sustained, non-lethal, resistance, denying the attacker’s access to the ship long enough for the ship’s operating crew to seek safety below decks and to summon assistance from coalition warships.

Reports suggest that the security team were only finally overwhelmed when attackers gained access to the ship and continued to fire upon the embarked security team.

I have spoken with my team leader on the phone and he informs me that the level of violence was unprecedented and forced them reluctantly to leave the vessel after every effort was made to ensure the safety of the ships crew, further whilst in the water the security team were again fired upon. The hijacked vessel with pirates in control then attempted to run them down”

(more…)

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