Al Shabaab, Somali Piracy link Growing? October 26, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Anti Piracy, Chris Mark, maritime piracy, Maritime Security, Somalia
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According to a report in Reuters, the UN stated that the link between Al Shabaab and Somali pirates is growing. This was stated by the UN’s head of counter piracy, Colonel John Steed at the Combating Piracy event in London, England last week. “There is a growing link and growing cooperation between al Shabaab who are desperate for funding and resources with other criminal gangs and with pirates,” said Colonel John Steed. Notice that the statement is less than definitive. During the event last week Colonel Steed was questioned very pointedly about the UN”s position that Al Shabaab and pirates are working more closely together. Additionally, numerous other speakers were definitive in their position that piracy was NOT associated with Shabaab and was a purely financial, and criminal effort.
While there is little doubt that Shabaab is looking for new funding sources, the prevailing opinion among those at the event appeared to be that the UN’s insistence on correlating piracy with terrorism was little more than an attempt gather international attention to the issue of piracy within Somalia and attract international efforts to combat piracy.
Combating Piracy Week London 2011 October 22, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, combating piracy week, hanson wade, InfoSec, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security
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I am currently flying back from London on Delta after returning from Piracy Week. While we will provide a more in-depth update later I wanted to capture some comments. Overall the event was well worth the investment and was a very well attended event. Hanson Wade did a great job of managing the event and encouraging networking. I have spoken at well over 100 events in the past 10 years and I would say this was in the top 5%. Marie, James, Jethro, Sara, David, Miles and crew at HW did a great job.
The lineup of speakers was impressive as were the attendees. All speakers showed and provided some very good information. Some of the speakers included representatives from the Somali Government, as well as the UN, UKPTO, and IMO, among others. Of course, I (Chris Mark) was a speaker at the event. Even competitors such PVI, and Salama Fakira had speakers, as did other companies such as Rubicon advisors. Both Conrad and Dom provided very valuable information.
Attendees included numerous shipping companies and representatives. The overall view was that armed security is an important component of the overall security strategy. Numerous speakers confirmed that no armed vessels have been hijacked to date.
Overall, I would suggest that any ship owner or other stakeholder with a real interest in security may want to consider attending a Piracy Week event hosted by Hanson Wade. The hosts are great, the speakers are good and the attendees are bright and committed.
Against The Gods. The Remarkable Story of Risk October 14, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: against the gods, Chris Mark, InfoSec, peter bernstein, risk management
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As I am preparing for my presentation next week I was reminded of a book that I recommend all risk managers and security professionals read. It is a book by Peter Bernstein called Against the Gods. The Remarkable Story of Risk. You can get it at Amazon.com here. While the book sounds dry, it is really a very fascinating look at the history of risk in humanity. One of the examples is that of the title. Before people really understood the concept of probability they had no real way of making calculated decisions such as when to sail across the seas. In essence, you would pray to the gods that you would make it across the north Atlantic and…if the Gods were on your side you made it…if not…you didn’t. Then one day someone said: “Hey…it seems like the gods are against us more often during certain times of the year than others…” This was the origin of probability theory. As you can imaging probability theory really came into fashion when people were trying to win at ‘games of chance’ which, as we know now, we are not really random rather based upon probability. Overall, it is a great read and I highly recommend for the library.
As West Africa Piracy Increase….Naval Forces to Decrease in 2012 October 12, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Piracy & Maritime Security, Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, gulf of aden, gulf of aden security, InfoSec, Maritime Security, somali pirates
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In what is sure to be a winning combination, piracy in West Africa is increasingly substantially while Lloyds list today published an article indicating that Naval support for anti-piracy efforts will decrease sharply in 2012. It was announced todaythat another vessel was hijacked off the coast of Nigeria. According to the IMB a tanker was hijacked off the coast of Nigeria. A spokesperson for the IMB stated: “The vessel is still under captivity…We believe the crew is still on board,” according to the official of the piracy watchdog, who added that there was “no indication that the crew has been taken away”.
While Somali pirates are becoming increasingly violent and desperate as attacks are thwarted and piracy on the West Coast of Africa is increasing, the international community has seen fit to decrease the presence in high risk waters. Reasons given are austerity measures being enacted as well as the need for vessels to support operations in Libya and other areas in the Middle East and North Africa. Regardless of the reasons, the end result is likely to be the same. Increases in pirate attacks on merchant vessels. It is imperative that ship owners and other stakeholders consider the use of armed guards on their vessels as 2012 is sure to see a marked increase in piracy on both the East and West coasts of Africa.
US & UK Forces Free Italian Ship! October 11, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, InfoSec, MV Montecristo, Piracy & Maritime Security, somali pirates
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A joint effort between US and UK forces freed the MV Montecristo and arrested 11 pirates. According to reports each country had one naval vessel involved in the rescue and took control of the vessel with a “compliant boarding”.
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