When will the Merchant Shipping community tighten security?
According to the Associated Press (2008), pirates seized the 530-foot-long freighter Faina off of the coast of Somalia. The ship was carrying 33 T-72 tanks, a substantial quantity of ammunition, and spare parts. This is a series of lucrative business adventures of coastal pirate groups who undertake these swift measures to financially assist themselves and their friends. Many of these close knit pirates organization provide funding to Al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations.
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U.S. Ship repels pirate attack
While the world’s attention has been focused on the drama aboard the MV Faina (And it’s 21 member crew) off Somalia's Indian Ocean coast, there have been some other developments in the area which may point a much more sophisticated plot. On September 23rd, a Navy security team aboard the fleet oiler John Lenthall kept two small boats at bay with warning shots on Tuesday near Somalia, according to a bulletin from 5th Fleet in Bahrain.
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Somali Pirates seized freighter carrying 33 T-72 tanks
In their latest attack on merchent ships off the Horn of Africa, Somali pirates seized the 530-foot-long freighter Faina carrying 33 T-72 tanks, a substantial quantity of ammunition, and spare parts. According to an Ukraine newsagencey, Faina is owned by Tomex Team based out of Odessa and was hired by Ukrainian state controlled arms dealer Ukrspetsexport to transport the tanks to Mombassa, Kenya. According to AP reports, Alfred Mutua, a Kenyan government spokesman, confirmed that Kenya's military had ordered the tanks and spare parts.
WEAPONS TIGHT: Boyd’s Loop and a critical weakness in Naval Force Protection
Current U.S. Navy waterborne Force Protection doctrine, as promulgated in NWP 3.10 Naval Coastal Warfare relies heavily on the concept of a layered defense-in-depth concept provided by three distinct zones around the asset being protected. These are the assessment, warning, and threat zones, concentric rings around the asset which alter the level of threat and response based on distance. While on paper and in sterile, table-top exercises the “TWA zone” defense seems to work well, the concept need to be revisited in light of several recent incidents because in real world, it does not stand the test of a proven theory of combat analysis, commonly called the OODA Loop or Boyd’s Loop, after its creator, USAF Col. John Boyd.
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Why we have to pay attention to small port security
By: Geoff Kohl
On Tuesday of the ASIS show, I had the genuine pleasure of joining a number of security professionals to hear from Laurie Thomas of the University of Findlay (located in Ohio) about the topic of maritime security. Thomas is part of the University of Findlay's School of Environmental and Emergency Management, and is involved in areas of security training, emergency operations and terrorism preparedness.
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OSI Geospatial Awarded Contract to Provide the Port of Buffalo with Risk Assessment Services
OSI Geospatial Inc. announced today that its U.S. Systems Operations has been awarded a contract valued at approximately US$300,000 to provide an integrated vulnerability assessment (IVA) for the Port of Buffalo in New York. The Port of Buffalo is located at the eastern end of Lake Erie and is owned by Gateway Metroport. It is the first major U.S. port of call encountered when entering the Great Lakes. Under the terms of the contract, the company will complete an IVA for the port system and identify actions to effectively mitigate threats to the region’s maritime critical infrastructure. The work is estimated to be completed over a three month period.
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Admiral to shipowners: Hire security teams!
In his latest appearance Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, Commander, Combined Maritime Forces, suggested that the shipping industry consider hiring security teams to protect vessels against Somali pirates.
"The coalition does not have the resources to provide 24-hour protection for the vast number of merchant vessels in the region. The shipping companies must take measures to defend their vessels and their crews."
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Tweaking TWIC
By John Henry Byk,
The U.S. Coast Guard and the Transportation Security Administration recently announced that the Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) program compliance date for Puerto Rico and the U.S Virgin Islands will be sometime between March 1 and April 15, 2009.
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