Advanfort News

AdvanFort: the firm is delighted that an Indian appeals court has acquitted and released the 35 crew members and security personnel who were aboard the MV Seaman Guard Ohio when it was illegally detained on October 12, 2013. The Indian Government’s unlawful seizure of the Seaman Guard Ohio and four-year imprisonment of these men on unfounded charges was a gross violation of international law and basic human rights. AdvanFort has expended significant resources and effort to seek the release of these wrongfully detained men and is pleased that justice finally has prevailed. The men of the Seaman Guard Ohio have demonstrated incredible strength and resilience during their prolonged captivity under horrific conditions.

33 of the 35 guards who have come to be known as the ‘AdvanFort 35’ were released from prison for good on Saturday, the judge ordered. They were released on bail last week, and today the judge ordered them to be freed. AdvanFort, the company that employs those guards has submitted a quash request to the Indian court system, and expects to have the remaining two guards released, and to have the case dismissed as well. Some of the family members of the guards have been to the prison to visit. Others have been very vocal, even going so far as to present a petition the UK Parliament to intervene. The remaining two guards are the master and crew leader of the ship. India's plan was to charge them for not notifying the country of the weapons they had on board when entering Indian waters.

Maritime security company Advanfort said several of its guards have been freed from Indian Prison after several months of negotiations. The bail order excludes the vessel’s captain and the TDO, and the release comes with conditions. Advanfort said it will make more details available when the bail order is received. The detainees were arrested in the Indian Ocean while working on the company's vessel, the Seaman Guard Ohio, for entering Indian territorial waters. The vessel’s master maintains that they were in international waters. It was argued that a vessel might have drifted due to winds factor, as there was a cyclone storm at the time, but this should have been treated as force majeure.

According to the the Mission to Seafarers, families of anti-piracy vessel 'MV Seaman Guard Ohio' personnel  being held in India have said that the British lawyers representing the men were dismissed ahead of the upcoming bail hearing. Family members have also launched an appeal for financial help. Global maritime charity organization the Mission to Seafarers is helping crew members and their families and informs it is now in touch with the Indian legal team in an attempt to get clarity around what this might mean for the men.

The judicial magistrate in Tuticorin, C. Kathiravan, extended the custody of the AdvanFort-35 until March 14 after hearing arguments through video conferencing. The Advanfort-35 is the name dubbed to the 35 crew members who were captured by the Indian authorities in October of 2013. They were alleged to have entered Indian waters illegally with the AdvanFort vessel, the Seaman Guard Ohio. The company has since been working for the release of its ship and crew. Despite the custody extension the company has expressed optimism about the situation.

Private maritime security provider AdvanFort announced that it will commence a restructuring program to implement rigid quality control for its PCASPs, meant to ensure that the company complies fully with all regulations in the maritime security industry. According to AdvanFort, the plan includes seeking counsel from outside expert advisers; conducting third party auditing of their training and operations programs and developing an ombudsman program for the operators. The program began earlier this year and will be ongoing. The company believes the restructuring program will help to reinforce its position as a leader in the maritime security industry.

The International Organization of Masters, Mates & Pilots (MM&P), says 35 U.S. anti-piracy ship crew members are being treated unfairly, following the arrrest of their ship, 'Seaman Guard Ohio', describing it as 'an outrage' that they are being subjected to inhumane conditions in an Indian prison. MM&P inform that officials are withholding proper medical treatment, bathing facilities and adequate food and, additionally, the courts have denied bail three times since the men were arrested four months ago on charges of illegally carrying weapons and straying into domestic waters.

India's Principal Sessions Court has cancelled the conditional bail granted by a lower court to 35 crew members of US private security firm AdvanFort's 'Seaman Guard Ohio' arrested on charges of carrying weapons illegally and straying into Indian waters, reports ZNews (India). Principal Sessions Judge Krishnamoorthy was allowing a criminal revision petition by Tamil Nadu Q Branch police, challenging the grant of bail by a magistrate court to the crew of the ship arrested on October 18, 2013 and presently in judicial custody.

A court in Tamil Nadu's Tuticorin city has granted bail to all 35 crew members arrested from the US-owned Sierra Leone-flagged private maritime security vessel 'Seaman Guard Ohio'  detained since October 2013, reports the Business Standard (India). Citing the advocate acting for the crew members, Business Standard says that police had been due to file a charge sheet within 60 days of the arrests, but had failed to do so, and hence the court granted bail. The Coast Guard escorted the ship with 35 people - 10 crew and 25 security guards - to Tuticorin port Oct 12, 2013.

In a swift operation, the Indian Coast Guard has detained a Sierra Leone-flagged vessel with 25 armed guards on board, at Tuticorin. The vessel, 'Seaman Guard Ohio' is owned by US-based maritime security firm AdvanFort, but those on board were unable to explain why they had entered Indian waters, reports 'The Hindu'. 'The Hindu' cites Inspector-General and Commander Coast Guard (Region East) Satya Prakash Sharm as stating that the operations centre received information late on Friday that a vessel with armed guards on board was seen near the Tuticorin coast.

Typecasting can be the curse of many an actor – they become so immersed and associated with one kind of character that the wider audience cannot seemingly accept them in any other role. Away from the bright lights of the film studios, it seems that entire industries can be typecast too – and private maritime security may be suffering just such a problem. It appears the maritime security industry and armed guards have become completely synonymous. A perception is seemingly developing which sees privately contracted armed security personnel (PCASP) as the only answer being offered by this burgeoning industry. Their use has been contentious and has led to difficult decisions within in many a parliament and many a shipowner’s Board room…

Gulf of Guinea counter-piracy accord adds international ballast to company rebranding. AdvanFort International, Inc., a leading U.S. maritime security firm, has announced that the Government of the Republic of Benin has granted it permission—the first given by a West Africa government—to conduct counter-piracy operations for both domestic and foreign-flagged commercial vessels throughout Benin's waters. “It is with great pleasure that I can confirm that President Dr. Thomas Boni…

Global maritime security services provider the AdvanFort Company today praised new accreditation criteria for Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs) working on German-flagged vessels that raise required standards but are also professionally flexible. "Key to this process is that the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) does not require a set of documents that is formally 'carved in stone,'” said AdvanFort Vice President for Sales and Business Development Axel Tuetken.

The AdvanFort Company has opened an office in Hamburg, Germany, as part of its growing worldwide customer service network, particularly for clients in Europe. “AdvanFort has made a substantial investment in the future of our clients in Germany and the rest of Northern Europe by inaugurating our office in Hamburg, the maritime crossroad in that region, thus ensuring that we are closer to our customers,” said company President William H. Watson. Axel Tuetken underlined the fact…

By John A. The western African states have said clearly they do not have the naval, coast guard or customs resources to deal with the piracy evident in the Gulf of Guinea. Further, they do not say, but it is clear, they do not have the money to do it. Piracy is now confined to one principal area. But piracy is similar to blood — a little spilled goes a long way. Piracy will spread elsewhere when and if strong emphasis is put on the Gulf of Guinea. Let us look at the hard facts in this hard business.

The study employs Michael Porter’s famous model designed to determine how competitive forces shape strategy in order to better understand the current state of, and contemporary and future challenges faced, by Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSCs). The model used allows companies to understand that competition extends beyond their professional rivals and includes many other factors that affect the framework in which the industry operates. Those PMSCs that lack a deeper knowledge of competitive considerations will find it difficult to stay profitable.

The AdvanFort Company has volunteered its counter-piracy vessels in the waters in and around the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean to join the U.S. Coast Guard-coordinated Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System (AMVER). The AdvanFort fleet, which has vessels strategically positioned in key sea lanes surrounding the High Risk Area (HRA), is now “on plot” in the official USCG program, a computer-based voluntary global ship reporting system that is used by search and rescue authorities around the world to arrange for assistance to persons in distress at sea.

Maritime security company AdvanFort announced Wednesday that it has volunteered for service in the piracy-infested waters in and around the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean as part of the U.S. Coast Guard-coordinated Automated Mutual Assistance Vessel Rescue System (Amver), whose members assist any nearby vessel in distress. The AdvanFort fleet which has vessels strategically positioned in key sea lanes surrounding the High Risk Area (HRA), is now “on plot” in the official USCG program…

The Cyprus Department of Merchant Shipping (DMS) has licensed the AdvanFort Company, a world-leading provider of maritime security solutions for the commercial shipping industry, to supply the services of armed and unarmed escort guards on those of its flagged vessels transiting piracy high-risk areas, it was announced today. The decision by Cypriot authorities comes just six months following similar approval by the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) to conduct counter-piracy operations aboard vessels flying the Panama flag.

As the threat posed by maritime piracy continues in several parts of the world, there is a growing debate among different governments, private sector analysts, non-governmental organization advocates and others about how bad the situation truly is; where and to whom it is the most challenging, what more needs to be done, and how much the private security industry actually benefits from this type of reporting. Like the famous phrase “beauty is in the eye of the beholder,” different people find the same threats to be of varying degrees of worry. Yet the bottom line is that piracy’s frequency and growing transnational criminal reach, the people it hurts…

International shipping registries have continued to sharpen their aim taken at a longstanding maritime problem: What is the appropriate response to piracy? As attacks have shifted from Somalia to West Africa, the issue remains at top of mind. Armed guards have proven to be a successful deterrent against attacks. Ship finance and registry lawyer Brad Berman, a Partner at Holland & Knight (H&K), sums up a sea change in views over the past year in views about guns aboard ships, telling Maritime Reporter: “A few years ago most of the shipping industry was against having weapons aboard…

For the third time in nearly five years, the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN) has stepped down from a three-month command of the multi-national Combined Task Force (CTF) 151, after coordinating operations to deter and disrupt maritime organized crime in the Gulf of Aden as part of international counter-piracy efforts. The fact that there were no successful hijacking incidents in the CTF 151's area of responsibility during Singapore’s naval leadership is only part of the story of its success.

The AdvanFort Company signed on Axel Tuetken, the former country president in Tokyo for Maersk Line and Safmarine, as its business development director in Northern Europe, AdvanFort President William H. Watson said. From Toyko, Tuetken supervised offices in Osaka, Kobe, Yokohama, and Nagoya, as well as a Shimizu joint venture. From his initial position with Maersk as Sales Representative in Bremen and Lower Saxony, Tuetken rose through the ranks by garnering experience in Northern Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, before becoming its branch president in Japan. www.advanfort.com