Maritime Security Updates Archive

25th April 2015
Western powers will not finance armed forces to patrol the Indian Ocean indefinitely. The maritime industry will price the risk according to the threat. The probability of piracy has diminished. The business of maritime security must adjust. As the perception of threat falls, so will the cost of protection. Competition will force prices down and many armed security companies will not survive. Some will merge. Consolidation is inevitable. Or so it seems.

23rd April 2015
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization has agreed to establish a liaison office in Djibouti to boost anti-piracy efforts off the Horn of Africa.

9th April 2015
Given the recent development in the areas in and around Libya and Yemen, the Norwegian Maritime Authority has decided to give instructions to SSOs and Masters on board Norwegian flagged vessels.

2nd April 2015
Houthi rebels in Yemen have strengthened their positions on two islands in the strait of Bab el-Mandeb, deploying weapons that may put commercial and military vessels at risk, Djibouti’s foreign minister said.

1st April 2015
Seychelles is on track to establish a European Union-funded Operation Coordination Centre to promote maritime security

17th March 2015
Denmark failed to prosecute nine pirates for an attack on the Danish-flagged tanker Torm Kansas and ordered to pay the pirates 20,000 Danish crowns (approx $3,247) in damages. The same pirates have now been sentenced to 14 years in prison in the Seychelles, according to Danish news agency, Ritzau.

16th March 2015
Libya and Algeria in North Africa, and Nigeria and Angola in West Africa will become central to Europe’s energy security as it moves to sharply reduce its reliance on Russian oil and gas imports.

13th March 2015
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission is to inaugurate the Multinational Maritime Coordination Centre (MMCC) for a maritime zone known as Pilot Zone E.

11th March 2015
As the humanitarian crisis in the Mediterranean Sea is spiralling out of control, the ICS has published new Guidance on Large Scale Rescue Operations at Sea

2nd March 2015
A new UN report says Libya's ability to prevent the flow of weapons into and out of the chaotic country is "almost non-existent," and it calls for the tightening of an arms embargo that the government says must be loosened so it can defend itself.

8th February 2015
A Kuwaiti oil tanker sailing through the Gulf of Aden managed to fend off a pirate attack on Sunday, February 8th.

6th February 2015
The recent violent attack on the Malta-flagged VLCC MT Kalamos off the Nigerian coast has sparked a fresh round of talks in the shipping industry about the escalating piracy threat in West Africa and its potential implications.

5th February 2015
The purpose of this advisory is to highlight recent events in the region and reinforce guidance.

2nd February 2015
The Nigerian Federal Government has said that it will not hesitate to detain any vessel entering the country territorial and coastal waters with security escorts on board, whether armed or unarmed.

30th January 2015
Are additional instruments needed to support UNCLOS in the maritime security threat and threat-response arena in order to provide sufficient legal basis to meet and regulate contemporary security responses at sea?

26th January 2015
The year ahead will doubtless present new challenges for the industry, but good preparation and consideration of the diverse range of threats will hopefully result in favourable, downward trends in maritime crime. Outside of the normal areas of maritime crime we are likely to see other risks from terrorism to civil strife.

22nd January 2015
The world maritime transportation system (MTS) plays an important role for the national economy. The security of this system–which includes ports, the littorals, and the nation’s Economic Exclusive Zone (EEZ) into the world’s global maritime commons–is absolutely critical. The important thing to keep in mind is that this “layered” framework, which starts at the pier and works its’ way out to global maritime commons presents unique risks and vulnerabilities that need to be considered as does the authorities and jurisdictions that might apply.

19th January 2015
Underpinning the regulatory framework for security in the shipping industry is the IMO's ISPS Code, which first came into force in 2004. While some may see it as "just another regulation" that has to be complied with by way of paperwork, it is a key part of the process of a ship's security and her ability to trade effectively across many different jurisdictions. In particular, but not exclusively, the US Coast Guard (USCG) takes compliance very seriously.

15th January 2015
Piracy incidents are at their lowest level for eight years, but ship hijackings almost doubled between 2013 and 2014, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed in its end-of-year report. The overall reduction is largely attributable to the continuing suppression of Somali piracy.

30th December 2014
One of the priorities of the 2014 EU Chairmanship of the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia (CGPCS) has been to adequately document the lessons learned from the Contact Group.

25th December 2014
When considering maritime chokepoints worldwide, the Mozambique Channel should come to mind; however, because of greater instability and vulnerability in other geographic bottlenecks it is often overlooked. Yet, for the past millennium, the Mozambique Channel has served as a key transit and trade hub linking the Indian Ocean to the world. Today is no different.

24th December 2014
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has joined other maritime organisations in expressing concern over the decision to compensate convicted Somali pirates.

18th December 2014
The explosion of piracy off the coast of Somalia, which reached its peak between 2008 and 2010, led to a similar explosion in the maritime security industry. International naval patrols struggled to cope with the vast ocean area in which the pirates operated. So, private companies, many of them British, stepped in to fill the gap by providing armed guards for merchant vessels. Somali piracy has reduced dramatically as a result. But how to arm the private security guards, and how to store the weapons when they are not in use?

17th December 2014
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) enshrines the concept of innocent passage through a coastal state’s territorial sea. Passage is innocent so long as it is not prejudicial to the peace, good order or security of the coastal state. A vessel in innocent passage may traverse the coastal state’s territorial sea continuously and expeditiously, not stopping or anchoring except in force majeure situations.

11th December 2014
It is almost predictable that within every piece on pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, the writers will point to Nigeria as its source.

9th December 2014
Various types of state jurisdiction can be enforced under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) and international law broadly.

30th November 2014
Yemen's Interior Ministry has ordered increased security along the country's coastline in response to information that al-Qaeda's Somalia-based affiliate al-Shabaab is planning to carry out attacks in the country.

28th November 2014
Marine based businesses are warned of the threats they face through breaches of cyber security and the liabilities that could arise from such breaches.

27th November 2014
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.

24th November 2014
We are at a turning point in maritime security affairs. As state budgets are declining and demands on world navies are placing them in increasingly precarious positions, the maritime community is once again employing private means to enhance protection against asymmetric threats, thus liberating our naval forces to defend our freedoms on the high seas.

21st November 2014
The Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has said that the lives of officials of the agency are being threatened by pirates and oil thieves who have escaped prosecution.

12th November 2014
Shore leave is becoming severely restricted as a result of the global Ebola pandemic.

11th November 2014
Shippers Council of Eastern Africa (SCEA) said in a report that goods imported through the port of Mombasa were 10 per cent more expensive than they were in 2007, at the height of piracy along the East African coast.

7th November 2014
In 2004, when the International Ship and Port Facility Security (ISPS) Code was entered into force, ports in West and Central Africa eagerly declared their compliance with this set of measures. Yet the United States Coast Guard said in a recent Port Security Advisory (PSA) that some of these ports are not properly implementing the measures set out by the International Maritime Organisation (IMO).

6th November 2014
Twelve Somali men tried for piracy were acquitted Thursday in Mauritius for lack of evidence.

28th October 2014
The study by a team from Michigan State University interviewed two former Somali pirates now living in Europe. They focused on how the pirates target and capture ships and then negotiate ransoms for the release of the ship.

27th October 2014
Merchant vessels and yachts have begun sailing dangerously close to a still volatile Somali coastline posing a threat to the crew and ships.

22nd October 2014
In a bid to further secure the nation’s maritime domain and stem the tide of piracy, armed robbery, illegal bunkering and other illegalities at sea, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has come up with several strategic plans.

22nd October 2014
Oil major Chevron and Edison Chouest Offshore (EOC) are the targets of a lawsuit filed by a captain who spent more than two weeks as the hostage of West African pirates.

22nd October 2014
While noting the progress made to combat piracy off the coast of Somalia, the United Nations political chief today said that a sustained long-term solution must include the presence of effective Government and State institutions that provide basic services and alternative ways for people to make a living.

20th October 2014
The European Union noted a decline in piracy activity off the coast of Somalia, the EU Foreign Affairs Council said in a Monday press release following a meeting in Luxembourg.

18th October 2014
Ahead of a discussion in the House of Lords this week, Lord Naseby and the UK Chamber’s Head of Communications, Jonathan Roberts, write on piracy off the coast of West Africa.

16th October 2014
Tanzania has signed the protocol against piracy which was endorsed by other East African and Indian Ocean littoral states under the condition that European Union construct prisons that meet the required international standards.

7th October 2014
Attention on piracy is shifting to West Africa, where it continues to happen at dangerous levels.

7th October 2014
Piracy will increase in the Gulf of Guinea as Nigeria prepares for an election next February in order to funnel ransom money into campaign financing, intelligence experts told a shipping conference in Copenhagen on Tuesday.

2nd October 2014
The Round Table of international shipping industry associations has released an updated version of ‘Guidelines for Owners, Operators and Masters for Protection Against Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea Region.’ The Guidelines have been jointly developed by BIMCO, ICS, INTERTANKO and INTERCARGO.

1st October 2014
Transportation security, and especially the important intelligence function within it, must be treated and managed as a whole, albeit with distinct modules by mode of transportation, under one centralized umbrella.

30th September 2014
Hazard pay for seafarers transiting the Gulf of Aden has been limited under certain areas and conditions.

25th September 2014
With conflict and bloodshed in the Middle East, Ukraine and other parts of the world dominating international attention, one issue has dropped off the headlines - the human cost of piracy and maritime crime. This applies especially to the Gulf of Guinea in West Africa where piracy is escalating.

23rd September 2014
German American journalist Michael Scott Moore has been freed two and a half years after he was kidnapped in Somalia. German officials received Moore, who worked for SPIEGEL International years before his abduction, on Tuesday afternoon local time.