US Merchant Ship With Anti-piracy Weaponry on Board Released

Nexus Consulting, says an 'administrative mistake' led to the Venezuala detention of a US-flagged ship.

Background: Venezuelan authorites arrested a U.S. ship captain early Thursday after three assault rifles were found on board. An embassy official said the captain of the 'Ocean Atlas' was being held for an alleged infraction "involving documentation for three rifles carried on board as part of the ship's anti-piracy security package."

Relevant extracts from Nexus' news release are as follows:

Nexus Consulting is proud to announce that all charges against the master and crew of the US-Flagged vessel detained in Venezuela have been dropped. The vessel is finally on its way home, with all crew, cargo and anti-piracy weaponry having been returned by the Venezuelan government as of 1800 Sept 14th.

Nexus would like to thank the maritime unions SIU and AMO as well as Congressman Delahunt of Massachusetts and the owners and operators for their support during this ordeal. As much as Nexus wanted to publicly respond to critical comments made well before all of all the facts were known, the safety of the crew was paramount, and Nexus chose to remain silent on the story in order to not jeopardize any crewmember’s safety.

About Nexus:
The company was established in 2005 with a focus on security operations in high-threat theaters. In 2008, Nexus Consulting was the first maritime security firm to advocate for armed security teams embarked on commercial ships. In 2009, in the wake of the Maersk Alabama hijacking, Nexus embarked one of the first armed security teams on commercial vessels to protect US mariners, and has been providing security services to protect merchant mariners ever since.