Shipboard Security News

Videotel, the leading international provider of e-Learning maritime training solutions and a company of KVH Industries, Inc., has received the approval of the Norwegian Maritime Authority (NMA) for its security training courses. Videotel’s “Maritime Security Awareness,” “Designated Security Duties,” and “Shipboard Security Officer” training courses have been approved in their entirety by the NMA for meeting the Standards of Training, Certification and Watchkeeping (STCW) codes, and seafarers completing these courses will receive the necessary qualifications and certificates for shipboard duty. The NMA approval enhances Videotel’s reputation with Norwegian ship owners, ship managers, and the offshore sector, which are guided by the Authority on maritime issues.

Three commercial ships were boarded by pirates within just three hours of each other in Straits of Malacca and Singapore (SOMS), the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ISC) has reported. The vessels have been identified as the Brazilian-flagged bulk carrier MV Densa Shark, the Norwegian-flagged LNG tanker Clipper Posh and the Panama-flagged tanker Pro Triumph. Within an interval of three hours on 17 Jun 15, three vessels while underway in the eastbound lane of the SOMS were reportedly boarded in close proximity with each other within 4 to 10 nautical miles of each other, leading authorities to believe that the perpetrators were part of the same group. “In all three incidents, the perpetrators were sighted in the engine room, an indication that the vessel’s engine spare items were targeted.

Maritime piracy is both ageless as a threat as well as ductile in its dramatically changing nature both in and around the Indian Ocean and, increasingly, in other parts of the world. Somali piracy erupted in the western Indian Ocean and Gulf of Aden and commercial vessels transiting the area frequently fell prey to the seagoing criminals who captured numerous vessels and held them and their crews for ransom to the tune of tens of millions of dollars. Numerous maritime nations…

The Castle Shipboard Security Program (CSSP) courses are now online the company announces. Mariners, law enforcement officers, security personnel, and veterans now have their scheduling and expense difficulties solved by this means. The courses enable the student/trainee to train in his/her own home or ship and around watch or duty schedules. Greater access to students enables CSSP to pass on substantial savings. The courses remain certificated by Nova Southeastern University and their Continuing Education Units can be applied to either under-graduate or graduate degrees.The student can also earn credit for Nova’s new Master of Science Degree in Disaster and Emergency Managements and its Maritime Track.

CASTINE, Maine -- Maine Maritime Academy students, officers, and crew will visit Mediterranean ports this spring as part of the college’s annual two-month training cruise to foreign and domestic ports-of-call. This year’s training cruise itinerary includes Norfolk, Va., May 6- 9; Valetta, Malta, May 25- 28; Civitavecchia, Italy, May 31- June 3; Cobh, Ireland, June 12- June 15; Portland, Maine, June 25-26. The ship will host a family day sail on the return leg from Portland to Castine. Under the command of Captain Leslie B.

The Castle Shipboard Security Program is now affiliated with Nova Southeastern University providing university certificates and continuing education units in Vessel Defense and Shipboard Security. The program is consistent with current national and international conventions including SOLAS and the ISPS Code. In order to meet the needs of the working learner, the program consists of three modules, each one week in duration. The modules consist of the prerequisite Basic Course, the Shipboard Security Team Officer Course, and a Practical Course which deals with training in both non-lethal and lethal defensive techniques in a real world environment. The program's fused training is intended for professional mariners, law enforcement officers, and maritime security contractors.

The region’s premier maritime event for specialized vessels opening Monday, 5 October 2009, is shrugging off the impact of the economic downturn with a 70% increase in the number of exhibitors and a 60% increase in exhibition space compared with last year, according to the organizers. Workboats include tugs, ferries, supply vessels; police, fire, patrol, pilot, rescue and oil spill boats; along with, dredgers, barges and floating cranes. More than 2,000 such vessels are estimated to be docked or repaired in the Middle East.

Since the worst-case scenario became a reality with September's terrorist attacks in the U.S., organizations of all kinds have been forced to re-evaluate how security applies to their operations. While the nation's focus has been primarily on the aviation industry, those of us in the maritime community have immediately seen many ramifications for water borne transportation. Because of the monstrous scale of death and damage, the industry can expect governments and regulatory authorities to apply varying degrees of increased security measures throughout the free world's infrastructure. Substantial security measures have already been taken in the maritime sector. The U.S. Coast Guard is instituting several new port security measures. Security zones have been established in U.S.

course for ship security officers. force in July 2004, all ships have to appoint a Shipboard Security Officer. seafarers. training package or a video and printed course book. contingency planning. for assessment by independent third-party assessors. flag states is pending. 17 countries have signed up for the course. 2003. complete," said Capt. Vause. difficult. But ship security is a major issue. training.

weeks ago. received official approval from the Liberian Registry. and is consistently on the Paris MOU White List of high-standard flags. course has also been approved by Kuwait and the Isle of Man. received approval from the UK MCA. have enrolled since the course was launched. training package or a video and printed course book. contingency planning. for assessment by independent third-party assessors. 21 hours in total, and can be completed while at sea.

A crew member aboard a Miami-based cruise ship was arrested on smuggling charges after Royal Caribbean security officers found a laundry bag full of cocaine and 3,000 ecstasy tablets aboard the vessel, the U.S. Customs Service said on Tuesday. Shipboard security officers said the crewman, Peter Westman Campbell of Jamaica, acted suspiciously after Vision of the Seas left the Caribbean island of Curacao on Friday, a Customs spokesman said. They reportedly found a laundry bag with 38.7 lbs. of cocaine in Campbell's possession, detained him aboard the ship and turned him over to Customs officers. A subsequent search by ship officers turned up another 18.7 lbs. of cocaine and 3,000 ecstasy tablets hidden near the ship's beauty salon, the officer said.

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution (WHOI), the largest independent institution of its kind in the world, recently began developing a new piston corer for retrieving sediments from the ocean floor. Once complete in 2006, the deep-water coring system will be the largest in the U.S. and among the biggest in the world. The corer’s enormous weight — 25,000 pounds — coupled with the environmental demands associated with working in water up to 20,000 ft. deep presented major technical challenges to the system required to lower the corer to the sea floor then recover it, along with its ancient sediment samples. Located in Cape Cod, Mass.…

association with The West of England Ship Owners Insurance Services. Facility Security (ISPS) Code". deputy managing director Chris Haughton. requirements in an efficient and cost-effective way. vessel and disseminate security information to the crew. Officer and the Port Facility Security Officers. preferred. on-screen assessment and testing capabilities.

ports-of-call. 4, for a week of preparation. Under the command of Capt. Tenerife; Antwerp, Belgium; and Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. 51 officers and crew aboard. According to Capt. P.J. occasion. for Antwerp, Belgium. reception scheduled for Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada. Baldacci. public for tours while in foreign or domestic ports. sailing are no longer possible. June 27-29. departure from Castine. dock at 2 p.m. Thursday, July 3.

BlueWater & Associates, Inc. 1054 Bel Marin Keys Blvd. Novato, Calif. Contact: Terry M. Michael A. BlueWater, established in 1994, specializes in assisting the maritime industry, terminals, pipelines, electrical power, and other industries with their safety, environmental, and emergency readiness programs. Known as BwebTraining, the program offers a unique, manager-enabled approach to web-based training. Through any Internet connection, students can complete narrated, interactive classes conducted by experienced trainers. Already in use by industry, the BWebTraining program includes a comprehensive suite of over 20 interactive courses designed to be customized to your Facility, Operation, and Needs.