Private Maritime Security Company News

Shipping companies should use caution when deploying private armed guards onboard vessels sailing through the Red Sea and Gulf of Aden because of the risk of escalation amid growing attacks on ships, an industry advisory said on Friday.Yemen's Houthis have been attacking vessels in Red Sea shipping lanes in recent weeks and firing drones and missiles at Israel, saying they aim to support Palestinians as Islamist group Hamas and Israel wage war in Gaza.In an advisory issued on Friday by the shipping industry's leading associations, companies were urged to "complete a thorough risk assessment wh

BIMCO has appointed Philip Tinsley as its new Head of Maritime Security. Tinsley joined the association in 2015 and assumes his new position after the sad and untimely death of his colleague, Giles Noakes, earlier this year. Before joining BIMCO, Tinsley spent 31 years with the Royal Marine Commandos – an elite specialist unit of the British Royal Navy, where he reached the rank of Major. His time with the military included both coastal and shore-side operations on a global scale and warfighting, with a specialisation in cold weather warfare. Tinsley left the Royal Marines Commandos in 2010, and joined a global risk consultancy where he managed offshore security in the Indian Ocean high risk area in support of seismic operations, which included two Somali pirate attacks at sea.

Pirates have hijacked an oil tanker with eight Sri Lankan crew on board, Somali authorities said on Tuesday, the first time a commercial ship has been seized in the region since 2012. Security forces have been sent to free the Aris 13, a regional police official said late on Tuesday. "We are determined to rescue the ship and its crew. Our forces have set off to Alula. It is our duty to rescue ships hijacked by pirates and we shall rescue it," Abdirahman Mohamud Hassan, director general of Puntland’s marine police forces, told Reuters by phone. Puntland is a semi-autonomous northern region of Somalia. Alula is a port town there where pirates have taken the tanker. Experts said the ship was an easy target and ship owners were becoming lax after a long period of calm.

Ship owners and managers now have the chance to choose the most cost-effective private maritime security company (PMSC) to protect their ships via a new online tool launched Monday. The online program, known as Marsec Manager, is the brainchild of Bastion International, a maritime security brokerage company offering cost-effective security solutions to shipping companies from some of the best providers in the industry. Marsec Manager enables users to compare different PMSCs in terms of pricing and what they can offer before deciding which security solution is best for them.

Southeast Asia is likely to see a record number of ship hijackings in 2015 as demand for illicit oil, together with a well-established black market, will continue to drive maritime attacks in the region, advises private maritime security company PVI. In the absence of a stronger law enforcement response, ship owners and operators, especially for small tankers, face increasing operational, financial and security threats, warns PVI. Singapore-flagged Joaquim became the latest victim of small tanker hijackings on August 8…

Aspida is the first PMSC to be permanently approved by CNAPS to provide armed guards onboard French flagged vessels. Maritime security firm Aspida informs that as of June 12, 2015 it has become the first private maritime security company (PMSC) to be permanently certified and licensed to supply armed guard protection to French flagged vessels. Aspida is also the first non-French PMSC to get a nontemporary accreditation by CNAPS. Aspida’s operations are carried out by more than 200 qualified and regularly vetted security personnel.

Meridian’s counter-piracy teams may now operate aboard vessels flying the Panama flag, following a vetting process that validated the quality of the US-based private maritime security company. The final decision was made this week by the Panama Maritime Authority, which administers the world’s largest flag State. The vetting process included scrutiny of Meridian’s reputation, financial stability, training standards, firearms handling accountability, corporate structure and proof of ISO 9001:2008 certification.

Despite the significant reduction in piracy attacks over the last few years it is now widely accepted by the maritime community that the safety of the High Seas cannot always be guaranteed by Governments. The future of security in the marine environment is about cooperation between the public and private sector according to the leading private maritime security company MAST. He added: “Although the Indian Ocean is relatively quiet at the moment, the overall political direction of Somalia is far from settled. Things could change very quickly and with very little notice. Astbury said that in the Mediterranean, few people realised the scale of the people displacement caused by the civil war in Syria and its spill over into the wider region.

William H. Watson has been appointed as Vice President of Meridian Global Consulting, LLC, a Mobile, Alabama-based scalable risk mitigation specialist consultancy. Company CEO Jonathan McConnell announced the appointment, stating that, “We are pleased that Will Watson has agreed to join the Meridian Global team. Prior to joining Meridian Global, Watson maintained his own consultancy, based in Washington, DC, and will continue to be based in the Nation’s Capital. MWatson’s experience includes serving as a flag State security officer for one of the world’s largest ship registries…

Almost 50% of the shipping companies who took part in a maritime security survey carried out by GoAGT would only employ ISO/PAS 28007 certified companies. The leading maritime security company, which achieved this certification earlier in March and received the certificate at a ceremony recently, surveyed its clients about the value of professional standards such as the forthcoming ISO/PAS 28007 in the decision to use a private maritime security company (PMSC). Results indicated…

Private maritime security services provider, Protection Vessels International (PVI), part of Protection Group International, informs that it has achieved ISO/PAS 28007 certification from Lloyd’s Register Quality Assurance (LRQA). PVI was one of the first private maritime security companies (PMSCs) to participate in the ISO/PAS 28007 pilot scheme which aims to set the benchmark for PMSCs who want to demonstrate to the international community that they, and the operatives they supply, are of the right quality to legally, safely and effectively guard commercial shipping on the high seas.

Private Maritime Security Company (PMSC) Aspida Maritime Security said it has opened a new office in Copenhagen, adding to its locatons in London, Athens and Seoul. “Our presence in Denmark will improve the quality of service offered to our current Danish customers and ultimately serve better the entire Scandinavian region,” said Panos G. Moraitis, President and CEO of Aspida. With partners in more than 30 countries, Aspida is driven by 120 employees worldwide. Specialized European military personnel provides for an excellent record of over 1…

Solace Global, provider of security in maritime, offshore and land-based environments, has partnered with Bournemouth & Poole College in Dorset to provide the first City & Guilds Maritime Security Operative course at a Further Education (FE) center. Following the appointment of Training Director Mark Knowles MSM in October this year, Solace Global established its own training cell dedicated to developing premium courses at reduced costs. Committed to offering the highest standard of security personnel…

International private maritime security company Sea Marshals Ltd. has expanded into new premises to cope with its growing workload, particularly in the Gulfs of Guinea and Aden. Sea Marshals marked its expansion with an open evening held at its new 4,500 square feet center of excellence for maritime security, alongside the Millennium Stadium, boasting excellent transport links on its doorstep and Cardiff Bay only minutes away. The large operations center is manned 24/7 to support the 120+ personnel currently at sea protecting vessels…

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…

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…

"The revelation this week that the owner of an Algerian cargo ship whose crew was held by Somali pirates paid them $2.6 million in ransom is yet another indication that the rewards these denizens reap for their illegal, life-threatening work remain a serious stumbling block to ending maritime organized crime," AdvanFort Company President and COO William H. Watson said. “Those ship owners and operators who have still not hired a highly-reputable private maritime security company (PMSC) continue to risk paying what amounts to an illegal tax in support of further organized maritime extortion…

Solace Global Maritime, a private maritime security company, has been seconded as an industry expert from SME32 Ships and Maritime U.K. Committee to advise the QS1 Quality Committee on proposed changes to the international management standard, BS EN ISO9001. The Committee is supporting the U.K.’s input for changes to BS EN ISO9001 which aims to eliminate misinterpretation and confusion caused by the existing wording of the standard. Although the planned changes will not come into effect until 2015…

AdvanFort Company said attorney Sheila R. Schreiber has come onboard as its in-house legal counsel. Schreiber brings experience in the private and public sectors. She is a former litigation partner with Howrey LLP, served as counsel to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on the Judiciary and has extensive experience in the national and international sales of industrial products. Her specialties include commercial, regulatory, employment, intellectual property, corporate and antitrust matters. Schreiber is a cum laude graduate of the University of Pittsburgh law school where she was a member of the Law Review. Her bar and court memberships include the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the U.S. Supreme Court and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit.

AdvanFort receives key “green light” accreditation in the Stage 1 process from Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI). The company says it has achieved key certification status in the Standard Private Maritime Security Company (PMSC) accreditation program of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI) pointing out that it is part of AdvanFort's on-going rigorous program of matching and exceeding emerging international benchmarks for quality and standards in maritime security. "We have just been told by Peter Cook, SAMI’s founder and director, that AdvanFort has been now certified in the Stage 1 process, attesting to our company's bottom line of transparency, honesty and integrity," said AdvanFort President and COO William H. Watson.

Following closely upon Congressional testimony about international maritime piracy offered by a U.S. State Department official, who called the use privately contracted armed security teams a "game changer in the effort to combat" the international menace, AdvanFort President William H. Watson has issued the following statement: "In testimony this week before the House of Representatives, the Assistant Secretary at Bureau of Political-Military Affairs Andrew J. Shapiro said that U.S. "Mr. "The State Department's conclusion? 'The use of armed security teams has been a game changer in the effort to combat piracy,' Secretary Shapiro concluded. "AdvanFort is very proud to have served in the front ranks of those private security efforts.

As a special to Piracy Daily, Andrew Moulder discusses the international importance of the United Arab Emirates as a vital gateway for emerging markets and the importance of sophisticated counter-piracy efforts. The role of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) as the far most important regional hub for East- West ship transport offers a critical demonstration of both the scope and the need for sophistication of counter-piracy enforcement in the Gulfs of Aden and Oman. At least half of the global trading fleet of tankers passes UAE shores twice annually.

The threat to maritime trade from Somali pirates continues, and ship operators should stay vigilant and adhere to best management practices, according to private maritime security company Sea Marshals Ltd, which counsels against complacency at this time. Latest security industry intelligence points to a likely upsurge in pirate attacks, particularly given recent releases of hijacked vessels and a reduction in attack success rates. Thomas Jakobsson, Chief of Operations for U.K.