Law Enforcement News

Dongara Marine delivered a fast patrol boat to law enforcement personnel in Australia’s Northern Territory. Completed in March 2024, PV Deutrom was purpose designed, built, and equipped for police operations requiring very high speed and the ability to carry multiple personnel. Dongara Marine also supplied a custom, heavy duty aluminium trailer to enable the vessel to be used throughout the Territory’s diverse and often remote maritime landscape.The 8.4 x 3.1-m custom rigid inflatable boat (RIB) has an aluminium hull, foam filled collar, and a control console set up for two-person operation.

The Olympic flame landed on French soil amid tight security on Wednesday, firing the starting gun on a summer extravaganza of sport that President Emmanuel Macron hopes will showcase the splendours of France and burnish his legacy.The flame arrived in Marseille, a port city in southern France founded by Greek merchants, after a 12-day trip from Greece onboard the Belem, a 128-year-old three-masted tall ship that once transported sugar from France's colonies in the West Indies to the metropole.The torch was brought to land by Florent Manaudou…

The crew of U.K. Royal Navy’s offshore patrol vessel HMS Trent has seized over $250 million worth of cocaine in the latest drugs bust in the Caribbean Sea, bringing the total drugs seized by the vessel so far to over $640 million.The latest bust came after HMS Trent was alerted to potential smugglers by a United States maritime patrol aircraft and used her powerful radars to track down the suspicious vessel.With the Royal Navy ship closing in, the vessel started throwing bales of cocaine into the sea to try and evade capture.The crew of HMS Trent then had to recover the drugs thrown overboard…

In 2018, convicted cocaine trafficker Slobodan Kostovski fled a Brazilian prison and made his way back to Europe with a fake passport.The Serbian senior quickly fell into old habits, police allege. Last August, Kostovski was arrested in Belgrade, accused of shipping 2.7 metric tonnes of cocaine from Brazil aboard a 22-meter vessel apprehended near Spain’s Canary Islands.Nicknamed “the General” by his associates, he had been trafficking “large amounts” of powder to “Europe for a long period of time,” Serbian police wrote in a 2022 intelligence report obtained exclusively by Reuters.

Louisiana-based boat builder Metal Shark announced it has won a contract to build 22 welded-aluminum high-speed surface interceptor vessels for the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF).JDF has selected the Metal Shark 36 Fearless, a high-performance center console craft proven in service with multiple military, law enforcement, and first responder agencies worldwide. Procured via direct purchase, these new surface interceptor vessels will be used by the JDF-Coast Guard for law enforcement, patrolling, and interdiction missions within Jamaica’s exclusive economic zone.

For 15 years the Maritime Risk Symposium (MRS), an annual three-day event, has brought together government and maritime industry leaders, port representatives, international and domestic researchers and solution providers to examine current and emerging threats to maritime security. World events highlight that maritime security is increasingly at risk during the current period of great-power competition and ongoing conflicts. The active competition between nations who are not…

The FBI said on Monday it opened a criminal probe into the collapse of a Baltimore bridge in March when a ship crashed into a bridge support, while local officials confirmed the recovery of a fourth body from the incident.FBI agents boarded the cargo ship Dali to conduct court-authorized law enforcement activity regarding the crash, an FBI spokesperson said. The spokesperson said there was no other public information available and the bureau will have no further comment.The body…

The U.S. Coast Guard has rejected comments by a Chinese diplomat that its recent boardings of Chinese fishing boats in the Pacific Islands alongside local police are illegal, saying the joint patrols are at the behest of Pacific nations to protect coastal fisheries.Reuters reported last month that six Chinese fishing boats were found to be violating Vanuatu's fisheries law after being inspected by local police who were on board the first U.S. Coast Guard boat to patrol the waters of the Pacific Islands nation.China's Ambassador to New Zealand Wang Xiaolong…

Unified Command dive teams have recovered the body of a missing person at the Key Bridge incident site in Baltimore.The recovered individual was identified as 38-year-old Maynor Yasir Suazo-Sandoval.Unified Command salvage dive teams located what they believed to be the missing construction worker and notified the Maryland Department of State Police. Maryland State Police Underwater Recovery Team deployed in coordination with dive teams from allied law enforcement partners and recovered Suazo-Sandoval.Maryland State Police investigators…

As a speed boat carrying more than a dozen Somali pirates bore down on their position in the western Indian Ocean, the crew of a Bangladeshi-owned bulk carrier sent out a distress signal and called an emergency hotline.No one reached them in time. The pirates clambered aboard the Abdullah, firing warning shots and taking the captain and second officer hostage, Chief Officer Atiq Ullah Khan said in an audio message to the ship's owners."By the grace of Allah no one has been harmed so far," Khan said in the message, recorded before the pirates took the crew's phones.

India will bring in and prosecute 35 Somali pirates its navy captured on a hijacked ship off Somalia, a navy official said, in a departure from its recent practice of rescuing vessels and crew but leaving the disarmed pirates at sea.The captured pirates are due to arrive in India on Saturday and will be handed over to the law enforcement agencies, the official said. He declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak to the media.The exact charges against the pirates were not immediately clear…

The Fort Lauderdale Police Department is repowering one of its patrol boats with a new 300-horsepower variant of Cox Marine’s flagship V8 diesel outboard.The department is working with Cox Marine’s East Coast distributor, Ring Power Cox Marine, for the project.The vessel is a 33'1" Brunswick Impact 1000 built in 2018, now powered by twin Cox 300 diesel outboards. The boat has as 12' beam and capacity for up to 18 persons. Its fuel capacity is 307 gallons.“The use of diesel engines…

The U.S. Coast Guard and Kiribati police boarded two Chinese fishing boats during a patrol against illegal fishing in the Pacific Islands nation's vast exclusive economic zone this month but found no issues aboard, a coast guard official said.The United States is seeking a bigger role for its coast guard in helping remote Pacific Islands nations monitor millions of kilometres of ocean - a rich tuna fishing ground - a move that also boosts surveillance as a rivalry with China over security ties in the region intensifies.Reuters reported on Friday that Chinese police are working in Kiribati…

Glasgow boatbuilder Ultimate Boats has delivered a recyclable patrol boat to fellow Scottish organisation Loch Lomond & The Trossachs National Park Authority.The bespoke vessel is 11 meters in length with a 3.1 meter beam. It features six permanent shock mitigation seats and two fold-down shock mitigation crew seats. Powered by two 350 HP Suzuki outboard engines, it has a 2,050kg payload, 1,000 litre fuel capacity and range of 400 miles.The vessel is built from Ultimate Boat’s patented Danu recyclable boat building material including its hull…

Maritime AI company Windward has announced a partnership with INTERPOL, the International Criminal Police Organization, to assist in their mission of facilitating a secure maritime environment.Windward’s Maritime AI will provide intelligence to help identify, track, and prevent criminal activities such as illicit trafficking, human smuggling, piracy and illegal fishing.The lack of actionable visibility in the maritime domain emboldens criminals, negatively impacts global trade…

Chinese coast guard personnel briefly boarded a Taiwanese tourist boat near Taiwan-controlled islands next to China's coast on Monday, the government in Taipei said, in an escalation of tensions after China said it would carry out regular patrols.China announced on Sunday that its coast guard would strengthen law enforcement activity around the Kinmen islands following the death of two Chinese nationals fleeing Taiwan's coast guard having entered into prohibited waters too close to Kinmen, which lies opposite the Chinese cities of Xiamen and Quanzhou.Taiwan's coast guard said in a statement th

The boarding of a Taiwanese tourist boat by China's coast guard near sensitive frontline islands triggered "panic" among Taiwan's people, a government minister said on Tuesday, but Taiwan's military added it was not planning to get involved.Taiwan, which China claims as its own territory despite the island's rejection, has been wary of efforts by Beijing to ramp up pressure on Taipei following the election last month of Lai Ching-te as president, a man Beijing views as a dangerous…

China's coast guard said on Sunday it will strengthen its law enforcement activities and carry out regular patrols around a small group of Taiwanese-controlled islands off the Chinese coast as tensions rise over the deaths of two Chinese nationals.Taiwan on Thursday defended the actions of its coast guard after two people on a Chinese speedboat, which got too close to a frontline Taiwanese island, died when their boat overturned while trying to flee a coast guard ship.

Australia's Birdon Group announced its U.S. subsidiary has reached a deal to acquire Metal Shark Boats' shipyard in Bayou La Batre, Ala.Birdon America said it will utilize the 32-acre facility for vessel repair work as well as newbuild activity, including construction of the U.S. Coast Guard's $1.187 billion 27-vessel Waterways Commerce Cutter (WCC) Program awarded to Birdon in 2022.Birdon Group CEO, Jamie Bruce, said, “The investment in this facility will not only ensure we deliver on our promise to the U.S.

Russian energy company Novatek said on Sunday it had been forced to suspend some operations at a huge Baltic Sea fuel export terminal due to a fire started by what Ukrainian media said was a drone attack.The giant Ust-Luga complex, located on the Gulf of Finland about 170 km (110 miles) west of St. Petersburg, is used to ship oil and gas products to international markets. It processes stable gas condensate - a type of light oil - into light and heavy naphtha, kerosene and diesel to be shipped by sea.It was not clear how long the disruption would last…

Arsenio Dominguez, Secretary-General of the IMO, addressed the United Nations Security Council at its 9,525th meeting reiterating his condemnation of the attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea.“Attacks against international shipping in the Red Sea area are not acceptable,” he said. “Ships must be allowed to trade worldwide unhindered and in accordance with international law.”Since the beginning of November, a number of attacks have been launched against international vessels navigating in the Red Sea which hosts around 15% of international shipping trade.

The Philippines and China traded accusations on Sunday over a collision of their vessels near a disputed shoal in the South China Sea as tensions over claims in the vital waterway escalate.The Philippine coast guard accused China of firing water cannons and ramming resupply vessels and a coast guard ship, causing "serious engine damage" to one, while China's coast guard said the Philippine vessel intentionally rammed its ship.China claims almost the entire South China Sea, a conduit for more than $3 trillion of annual ship-borne commerce…

U.S.-based boat builder Metal Shark is expanding its presence in its home state of Louisiana with the addition of a third manufacturing facility and a new recruitment effort.The expansion follows the recent divestiture of its Alabama-based ship refit and repair business, after the company sold its operations to Birdon America.With a new 40,000 square foot manufacturing facility in Iberia Parish, Louisiana, Metal Shark is looking to boost its production capacity.Together with its nearby Jeanerette and Franklin production facilities…