Sea Marshals has expanded its UK Operations Centre and introduced the latest tracking technology to protect vessels under its protection.
The company has transferred its Operations Centre to larger premises in Cardiff to accommodate its growing team of security consultants. The unit is staffed year-round, 24 hours per day, seven days a week, by expert personnel, most with Naval or Army backgrounds and experience in planning and tracking.
Sea Marshals has also introduced a custom-built computerised system to facilitate direct contact with its teams onboard vessels in high risk areas like the Gulf of Aden. The new system allows for automated location tracking of vessels, weapons and personnel. Through cooperation with regional and international authorities, Sea Marshals is able to give its onboard teams and captains live piracy alerts with range estimation and threat levels.
Advanced notification systems, monitored 24 hours a day, enable operations centre staff to warn ship owners and operators and give route guidance. Thomas Jakobsson, Chief of Operations for Sea Marshals, said: “This bespoke system was developed specifically for Sea Marshals. It is really world class software developed in-house to meet the business and customers’ needs. We are delighted that it enables us to provide first-rate communications between our Operations Centre and vessels under our protection, enabling us to keep captains up to speed with updates of threats in the area their vessel is transiting in.”
Sea Marshals Ltd operates a complete maritime security service using fully qualified armed and unarmed security teams in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Indian Ocean and Gulf of Oman. The company uses only government approved weapons of EU origin which the new computer system tracks by the serial number. Weapons are selected for each mission based on regulations in the countries where embarking and disembarkation will take place. All embarkation and disembarkation points are approved by local officials and supported by local governments. To achieve P&I club and flag state approval, the company supplies the serial number of the weapons it plans to use in good time before embarking.