Tag: security measures

Roughly 200 private security firms registered The number of private security firms providing protection for the shipping industry has grown "exponentially" in recent years, a leading security expert has told Sky News.There are roughly 200 private security firms registered around the world but British-registered firms represent approximately 80% of the trade.Shipping firms generally carry around three or four private security personnel through the dangerous shipping lanes such as the Indian Ocean near Somalia, meaning that several people are available and able to rapidly respond while the others sleep.The guards generally join the vessels in the North West Indian Ocean, and travel to ships from places as far apart as Sri Lanka, South Africa, Oman and Djibouti.The Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI) said that the average cost for a four-man team protecting a ship was $5,000 (3,200) a day.The private security industry is considered by many to offer a lucrative payday for former soldiers.But Graeme Gibbonbrooks, managing director of Dryad Maritime Intelligence Service, said the industry is not as well remunerated as many believe."It is not well-paid work, it is not as secure and lucrative as the outside world imagines," he said."Many people think they are paid thousands, they ...

Only an experienced oil trader would recognise these scams The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) is warning members over ongoing scams involving the fraudulent sale of Nigerian petroleum products.The Bureau is regularly referred cases where vessels belonging to members are caught in the middle of a dispute. Most cases involve small companies based in either Nigeria or Ghana and poor quality documents that IMB analyses quickly proved as fake. The documents purportedly show the ownership of cargoes carried on board certain vessels and the scam centres around these spurious documents being sold on to unwitting buyers, often at a heavy discount or for a hefty advance fee.The IMB recently investigated a case on behalf of a German buyer which involved much better quality documentation, including one apparently confirming that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) had indeed supplied the seller with the goods. Furthermore, the details of the cargo appeared to match that of a genuine shipment which had taken place. More detailed checks, however, confirmed that the deal was nothing more than an advance-fee fraud.IMB Deputy Director Michael Howlett commented: "These scams often rest on the fact that the victim is not well-versed in commodity trading. An experienced oil ...

EU report ever on cyber security challenges in the Maritime Sector ENISA(European Network and Information Security Agency) has published the first EU report ever on cyber security challenges in the Maritime Sector. This principal analysis highlights essential key insights, as well as existing initiatives, as a baseline for cyber security.The high-level recommendations are given for addressing these risks, Cyber threats are a growing menace, spreading to all industry sectors that relying on ICT systems. Recent deliberate disruptions of critical automation systems, such as Stuxnet, prove that cyber-attacks have a significant impact on critical infrastructures. Disruption of these ICT capabilities may have disastrous consequences for the EU Member States' governments and social wellbeing. The need to ensure ICT robustness against cyber-attacks is thus a key challenge at national and pan-European level.Some key findings of the reportMaritime cyber security awareness is currently low, to non-existent. Member States are thus highly recommended to undertake targeted maritime sector awareness raising campaigns and cyber security training of shipping companies, port authorities, national cyber securityoffices, etc.Due to the high ICT complexity, it is major challenge to ensure adequate maritime cyber security. A common strategy and development of good practices for the technology development and implementation of ...

Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said that Iran will do anything to preserve the security of the area Iran's defense minister on Wednesday stressed his country's warning against the U.S. navy presence in the Gulf, reinforcing a threat dismissed by Washington as a sign of "weakness" by Tehran."Iran will do anything to preserve the security of the Strait of Hormuz" at the entrance to the Gulf, Defense Minister Ahmad Vahidi said, according to the website of Iran's state television."The presence of forces from beyond the (Gulf) region has no result but turbulence. We have said the presence of forces from beyond the region in the Persian Gulf is not needed and is harmful," he was quoted as saying, according to AFP.The comments echoed a warning issued Tuesday by Iran's military that it would unleash its "full force" if a U.S. aircraft carrier is redeployed to the Gulf."We don't have the intention of repeating our warning, and we warn only once," Brigadier General Ataollah Salehi, Iran's armed forces chief, said as he told Washington to keep its aircraft carrier out of the Gulf.The White House on Tuesday brushed off the warning, saying it "reflects the fact that Iran is in a position ...

Extending activities to the beaches of Somalia The European Union's anti-piracy naval force, Operation Atalanta, is reflecting deeply on extending the range of their activities to the beaches of Somalia, where the piracy developments are deemed to be the most intensive.The EU committee has requested the force's commander to develop plans for revising the rules of engagement between EU forces and Somali pirates. According to the German Foreign Minister Spokesman said the topic of discussion is the limited destruction of piracy logistics on the beach and not a full deployment of forces on land.Directing the Horn of Africa's anti-piracy mission to the beaches would enable EU forces to destroying the pirates' equipment on the beaches of Somalia instead of just patrolling the seas off the coast.The spokesman added that no certain decisions have been made however the talks are evolving.Source: Naval Today

Efforts of the world community to effectively address the piracy problem India and Oman have extended the validity of the existing bilateral Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Military Cooperation, signed in December 2005, for a further period of five years. The documents were signed by the Defence Minister Shri AK Antony and the visiting Minister Responsible for Defence Affairs of the Sultanate of Oman, His Excellency Badar bin Saud bin Harib al Busaidi here today.Bilateral defence cooperation between India and Oman has been growing over the years. The Navies of both countries are conducting a joint exercise "Naseem Al Bahr off the coast of Mumbai from December 26-31, 2011. The IAF and the Royal Air Force of Oman held a joint exercise "Eastern Bridge" at Jamnagar, Gujarat in October earlier this year.During the delegation level talks both sides noted that bilateral defence cooperation activities have been progressing satisfactorily. The 5th meeting of the India-Oman Joint Military Cooperation Committee was held recently in India in September, 2011.Both the Ministers discussed important issues relating to regional and maritime security. Shri Antony noted that incidents of piracy were taking place close to the Oman coast and have also been spreading close to the ...

INTERPOL's global maritime piracy database he addition of three new member countries: Curaçao, Sint Maarten and South Sudan at the 80th General Assembly came towards the end of a year which began with the official ground breaking ceremony for the INTERPOL Global Complex for Innovation in Singapore and saw INTERPOL's global databases accessed 2 million times a day.Teams deployed to Africa by INTERPOL to support crime scene evidence retrieval from ships hijacked by pirates resulted in the recovery of intelligence used to identify pirates and negotiators, in addition to the techniques used to plan attacks and launder the proceeds. The value of these efforts, and the creation of INTERPOL's global maritime piracy database, was recognized in November by the United Nations through its unanimous endorsement of a resolution calling on all of its 193 member states to share information with INTERPOL as part of a comprehensive global response to maritime piracy off the coast of Somalia.Source: INTERPOL

Maritime sector of Nigeria did not fare well in the outgoing year Policy inconsistency, poor implementation, and instability, among other factors combined to impede the actualisation of the huge potentials in the maritime sector of the Nigerian economy in 2011; writes John Iwori, who has been following the developments in the sector.More than anything else, the recent failure of Nigeria to clinch the coveted seat in Category C of the Governing Council of the global maritime watchdog, International Maritime Organisation (IMO) when the General Assembly of the world body met in London last month showed that the maritime sector of the Nigerian economy did not fare well in the outgoing year.The inability of top government officials to be on same page as Nigeria sought re-election at IMO headquarters was clear to discerning stakeholders, who witnessed how those who were saddled with the responsibility of championing the country's campaign allowed their self interest, pride and ego to rob Nigeria of the coveted seat.2011 was a year those in the maritime sector of the economy would not like to remember, as Nigeria's quest to retain the coveted position failed. It was a painful loss as Nigeria failed to retain the prestigious position ...

This decision is unprecedented in the sport Five yachts in the Volvo Ocean Race have been transported on an armed ship through part of the Indian Ocean because of the threat of piracy.They will be set down off the coast of the United Arab Emirates before a one-day sprint to the finish in Abu Dhabi.Puma Ocean Racing's British skipper Ken Read said: "Sometimes the real world gets in the way of our little race."It is the first time that the 15-tonne racing yachts have had to be lifted onto a ship in open waters.With their 31m masts still in place, the yachts were hoisted up and placed in custom-built cradles on board the ship at an undisclosed "safe haven" port after setting sail on leg two from Cape Town, South Africa, on 11 December.They are expected to arrive at a location off the coast of Sharjah in about six days.Britain's Neal McDonald from Telefónica said: "It ranges from people trying to bum cigarettes off you and a bottle of water to ransom."And I think although our lives aren't worth very much, I think if they see a big sponsor's name, which they recognise or which they have seen somewhere else, ...

New anti-piracy project - the MASE (Maritime Security) project Eastern and southern Africa, and Indian Ocean region countries have initiated a new anti-piracy project with a startup grant of $2 million from the European Union.The MASE (Maritime Security) project, which has been under development since May 2010, was signed last week by regional economic blocs including Comesa, EAC, Igad and the Indian Ocean Commission (IOC) in Mauritius.This is a major development for countries affected by piracy, especially Kenya. In October, the IOC set up Anti-Paracy Unite in Seychelles. The MASE project is meant to develop national and regional capacities at three levels.First, it will support legal and legislative capabilities to countries willing to prosecute pirates; second, it will assist the region address economic impact of piracy among them the impact of money laundering; and, thirdly, will enable exchange of information to promote maritime security.The first regional ministerial conference on maritime piracy was held in Seychelles in May 2010. Since then, Mariani Alexandrio, the head of EU delegation in Mauritius, who is in charge of Indian Ocean Islands argues, the region has gone a long way.So far, estimated ransom payments in 2011 amount to $138.5 million for the 29 vessels and ...