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.
Tanker pirated while conducting STS operations off West Africa! September 14, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Chris Mark, InfoSec, maritime piracy, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security, risk management, security, somali pirates, West Coast of Africa piracy
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The IMB has reported that a tanker was pirated off the West coast of Africa and 23 of her crew taken hostage. The attack occurred Wednesday about 62 nautical miles from Benin’s capital of Cotonou. The bureau said the pirates took over the vessel, kidnapped its crew and sailed to an unknown location.
Updated reports indicate that the master sent SSAS alert, the crew locked themselves in engine room and contacted their companies CSO. Sometime later the pirates left the vessel. The crew came out of the engine room and conducted a search for the pirates and found the vessel to be safe. The crew regained control of the vessel.
Attacks off West Africa are becoming more and more common and brazen. Companies are urged to take proactive measures to ensure that events such as this have less of a chance of occurring. While the outcome was positive and the pirates ended up leaving the ship, the situation could have been far worse.
Private Yacht hijacked off Yemen then rescued same day as Danish family release! September 11, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: Armed escort, gulf of aden, gulf of aden security, InfoSec, maritime piracy, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security, risk management, somali pirates, Somalia
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On the day that a Danish family was released after months in captivity, an unidentified sailing yacht was taken by pirates on September 08, 2011 off the coast of Yemen: Latitude 15 27 N Longitude 052 14 E.
The yacht has now been identified as the catamaran TRIBAL KAT, heading west to east and crewed by the owners, a French couple Christian and Evelyne Colombo. The pirates’ vessel was sunk by a Spanish warship the SPS GALICIA and Evelyne Colombo recovered unharmed and 7 pirates arrested, however, her husband Christian is missing and is reported to have been killed during the initial hijack.
Owners of private vessels are urged to seriously consider avoiding High Risk Waters, as we’re seeing an increase in the numbers of private vessels attacked. As is the tragic case here, pirates are becoming far more violent with killing of hostages during violent takeovers becoming routine.
Danish family held by Somali pirates since February released! September 7, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Uncategorized.Tags: gulf of aden, InfoSec, maritime piracy, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security, risk management, somali pirates, Somalia
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COPENHAGEN, Denmark – Seven Danish hostages, including a family with teenage children, have been released by Somali pirates after more than six months in captivity, Denmark’s Foreign Ministry said Wednesday.
The Danes — a couple with three children ages 12-16 and two crew members — were captured in the Indian Ocean on Feb. 24 while sailing around the world in a yacht.
“The seven Danes are doing well under the circumstances. They are expected back in Denmark in a short time,” the ministry said in a brief statement.
It gave no details of how they were released and made no mention of a ransom being paid. No one at the Foreign Ministry was immediately available for comment.
Prime Minister Lars Loekke Rasmussen told public broadcaster DR that the Danes were on their way back in a chartered airplane paid for by their insurance company. Loekke Rasmussen said their release came after “a long period of negotiations.”
Hostages are held in hot, austere conditions in Somalia — typically for many months — before a ransom is agreed on and paid, and the hijacked ships and crew are released. Last year, a British sailing couple were released after 388 days in captivity. Reports indicated
Piracy and the Armed Detterent- Lloyds List… & dogs… September 1, 2011
Posted by Chris Mark in Laws and Leglslation, Piracy & Maritime Security.Tags: Chris Mark, gulf of aden security, InfoSec, Maritime Security, Piracy & Maritime Security, risk management
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There is a very well written piece on the use of armed guards. Without rehashing the entire article, the author disputes those who claim that armed guards are resulting in an increasing level of violence from pirates. It is a great piece and worth the read. In contradiction to the naysayers and in support of the piece mentioned above, I would go so far as to say that it is the increasing violence of pirates that is necessitating the use of armed guards on ships. Security companies would love nothing more than to flash a big toothy grin and the international sign of friendship at pirates to make them scamper away. The unfortunate reality is that the pirates are escalating their attacks and ships are being forced to use armed guards.
Yesterday I was in the pet store buying some food for my new Rottweiler puppy Bo. Bo had never been on a leash and I was attempting to train him. A woman working at the store struck up a conversation and I was explaining that I had to put one of my dogs down recently when after 11 years she had become so unpredictable that we could not trust her around children, people or pets. The dog had already attacked and severely injured three dogs by the time the decision was made to put her down. While I was deeply saddened it was the only responsible option. It was simply her nature to be aggressive. What struck me was the woman’s response to the story and to the idea of leashes. She actually tried to convince me that leashes were the cause of dog bites and attacks and that if we would do away with leashes the incidence of dog bites would go down. She was an advocate for allowing all dogs to run free! I told her I felt it was irresponsible to allow a 130lb dog to run free among children and others. At the end of the day, no matter how well trained, a dog, is a dog, is a dog.
This is the same attitude that permeates the blogosphere where people claim that it is the shipping companies, which by arming their ships, are causing the violence. This is complete nonsense. The pirates are violent and it is their actions that result in the need for shipping companies to arm themselves. Not the other way around…
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