Piracy and the Rules of Engagement

Each day there seems to be new reports of piracy near the coast of Somalia. The pirates have learned over time that a hostile takeover of an unwitting crew and cargo is big business. With each successful attack, they get their prize – ransom.

Maritime Casualties and the Impact to Homeland Security

Shortly after 1:30 A.M. of July 23, 2008, two vessels were transiting the Mississippi River. The Motor Tanker TINTOMARA, a 600-foot tanker was heading down river on a transit that seemed perfect for the early morning sail. The sky was clear with a three-quarter moon, 82 degrees with a light wind and ten-mile visibility. Lighting [...]

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 [...]

Terrorism’s Effect on Maritime Shipping

By: Roger L. Tomberlin
In the first years of the nineteenth century, Mediterranean pirates, with the support of the Barbary States of northern Africa, would capture merchant ships, terrorize their crews, and hold the ship for ransom. In response, the United States launched the Barbary wars, the first successful effort by the young republic to protect [...]

COUNTERING MARITIME TERRORISM IN THE CARIBBEAN SEA

By Lt Col Colin L. Mitchell
The United States of America (USA) is a major trade partner for Trinidad and Tobago and many ships transport dangerous cargoes like liquefied natural gas (LNG) from the port of Point Fortin to mainly USA Eastern seaboard ports. Despite the potential danger these cargoes posed, they were not viewed as [...]

Latest Piracy and Threats to Shipping Report – March 31, 2008

The Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) and the ICC Commercial Crime Services released their latest Maritime Safety Information on March 26 and March 31, 2008. The following maritime security incidents took place between March 24 and March 31, 2008.

New Maritime Security Report

Rebecca Christie | Lexington Institute
This report aims to look at the broad issue of maritime security in international waters, and its implications for United States policy. The topics addressed include conventional military threats, pirates and terrorist groups, as well as hard-to-spot dangers that may involve only a handful of hostile individuals. To address such challenges [...]

Analyzing the USS Cole Bombing

By Akiva J. Lorenz | Maritime Terrorism
On October 12, 2000, the USS Cole, an Arleigh Burke class destroyer, was attacked by a small craft loaded with 270 kg of C-4 explosives while making a routine refill stop in the port of Aden, Yemen. Steered by two Saudi suicide terrorists, Hassan al Khamri and Ibrahim [...]

Maritime Security: Federal Efforts Needed to Address Challenges in Preventing and Responding to Terrorist Attacks on Energy Commodity Tankers

U.S. Government Accountability Office
December 10, 2007

U. S. energy needs rest heavily on ship-based imports. Tankers bring 55 percent of the nation’s crude oil supply, as well as liquefied gases and refined products like jet fuel. This supply chain is potentially vulnerable in many places here and abroad, as borne out by several successful overseas attacks [...]

The Threat of Maritime Terrorism to Israel

By Akiva J. Lorenz | Maritime Terrorism
The purpose of this essay is to define maritime terrorism and analyze Palestinian and Al Qaeda’s maritime capabilities, focusing on the 1970s and from 2000 to 2006.
Maritime Terrorism has become a buzzword among security experts over the past seven years. Incidents such as the attacks on USS Cole (October [...]

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