British Anti-Piracy Command Threatened with Closure

As Reported HERE

British antipiracy command post threatened with closure

A British military command post running naval operations against Somali pirates is threatened with closure under cost-cutting plans, The Daily Telegraph has learned. 

The threat to the Nato unit at Britain's Permanent Joint Headquarters has emerged only days after the release of Paul and Rachel Chandler, a British couple kidnapped by Somali pirates off the Horn of Africa last year.

British defence sources have revealed that senior officers are "seriously worried" about the prospect of closing the Nato station.

Following defence cuts in Britain and other countries, David Cameron is expected to push for cuts in alliance spending and bureaucracy at a summit of Nato leaders in Lisbon this weekend.

Nato has promised to "cut fat" from its command structure, which is overburdened with multiple headquarters and other command centres.
Final decisions on plans to reduce the number of military headquarters, and cut command staff from 13,000 to 9,000 will be announced next year.
The cuts will end the duplication of many Nato command structures, where multiple HQs oversee the same operations. Host countries are fighting strongly to defend their Nato posts.
Alliance naval operations against pirates off Somalia are effectively run by two command centres, one in Britain and one in Portugal.
Portugal is lobbying strongly to defend Joint Force Command Lisbon, which has "overall command" of Nato's Operation Ocean Shield.
Portugal has argued that cutting a command unit from the host city of this year's Nato summit would be a political and public relations mistake. It has threatened to veto any cut.

British officials fear that the US has now accepted the Portuguese argument that the Lisbon HQ should survive. That has raised fears that a British headquarters will now be cut instead.

The Allied Maritime Component Command Headquarters based at Northwood, Middlesex, has "operational command" over the antipiracy operations, but is subordinate to the Lisbon HQ.

A senior British defence source said the prospect of closing the Northwood HQ had caused deep anxiety among British officers.
The source said: "It looks as if the Americans will go with the Portuguese, which is bad news for us. There are a lot of seriously worried people at Northwood." British sources said the summit would decide the broad outline of the alliance's new command structure but said final decisions on individual posts may have to wait until next year.

Uganda View on Piracy Efforts

As Reported HERE

Uganda has stridently criticized the Western strategy toward piracy in Somalia and described the campaign as wasteful and inefficient.

"The international reaction has been: 'Let's deal with piracy. Let's have our commanders there.' It is a good reaction, but it has not been successful," James Mugume, permanent secretary at Uganda's Foreign Ministry, told reporters on Friday.

Mugume noted that Uganda's plan to contain piracy is cheaper and more efficient.

"The concept of operation we presented to the Security Council is: let's take over the territory of Somalia. Let's block the ports… and the issue of piracy will automatically be reduced," he said.

The waters off the Indian Ocean coast of Somalia are considered the world's most dangerous due to persistent piracy attempts in the area.

The Gulf of Aden, which links the Indian Ocean with the Suez Canal and the Mediterranean Sea, is the quickest route for more than 20,000 vessels traveling from Asia to Europe and the Americas.

However, attacks by heavily armed Somali pirates in speedboats have prompted some of the world's largest shipping firms to switch routes from the Suez Canal and send cargo vessels around Southern Africa, causing a hike in shipping costs.

Somali pirates are currently holding about 30 foreign vessels and have taken more than 500 crew members hostage.

Somalia, located in the strategic Horn of Africa, does not have a functional government, and the Transitional Federal Government does not have much control beyond the capital city Mogadishu.

Gulf of Aden Anti Piracy Training

As seen HERE

ISSG conducting anti piracy training for the Yemen Coast Guard in the Gulf of Aden

58-Private Security Firms Sign Code of Conduct

As Reported HERE

58 Firms Sign Historic International Code of Conduct for Private Security Services Providers

Code's Success Depends on Credible Implementation and Accountability

GENEVA - November 9 - Fifty-eight private security companies today signed an historic International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers, an agreement to uphold human rights respecting principles and to establish an inclusive oversight mechanism to verify that these principles are implemented. Human Rights First has participated in the Code drafting process for more than a year and said today's signing has the potential to improve the industry's human rights impacts.
"This Code is a strong document and an important step in building an effective scheme for improving this industry's human rights performance," said Human Rights First's Devon Chaffee, who spoke at today's signing ceremony in Geneva. "But its true value will depend on how it's enforced. Companies signing the Code have committed to establishing a mechanism for robust oversight and governance. The Code's credibility will rest upon the ability of that mechanism to hold signatory companies to account."
Today's ceremony was attended by companies' CEOs from around the world including Ignacio Balderas of Triple Canopy, Gen G J Binns of Aegis Defence Services Ltd., and Matthew R. Kaye of EOD Technology, Inc. Also in attendance were high level officials from the various governments that have been instrumental in the Code process, including Swiss Secretary of State Peter Maurer, U.K. Ambassador John Duncan and U.S. Legal Adviser to the Secretary of State Harold Koh. Ten American companies are among the documents initial signers, including industry leaders such as DynCorp, Triple Canopy, and Xe Services (formerly Blackwater).
Among its provisions, the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Providers lays out concrete requirements governing rules for the use of force, vetting and training personnel, and incident reporting. It also outlines a clear industry commitment to future verification, field auditing, a complaint process, and to a time-tabled roadmap to establish an inclusive governance and oversight mechanism.  We look forward to working with the participating governments and companies to ensure that the oversight mechanism is effective in identifying and addressing negative human rights impacts in the field.

International Code of Conduct Signing

Evolutionary Security Management, ISSG Holdings Ltd, and APPDS are proud to announce the first fully operational service provider to sign onto the International Code of Conduct for Private Security Service Providers (ICoC). Brought together in 2009, this professionally and ethically driven alliance of companies offers a full spectrum of security services ranging from the protection of single individuals to major ships operating in complex environments.

The ICoC sets the ethical framework for private security companies operating in complex environments. These complex environments can leave local populations particularly vulnerable to the effects of the conflict. The ICoC seeks to limit the negative impact on these communities by clearly defining what is considered to be appropriate conduct when taking into account the rights of individuals as defined by the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights and with significant input from civil society. Companies that contract with signatories to the ICoC are given a greater degree of assurance that the measures being taken to assure their security have taken into account branding, ethical and legal risks that could be elevated when using entities that do not adhere to the principles of the Code.

In making this commitment, our three companies can provide an assurance to our clients that the services that we offer are flexible, based on sound and proven practices and are now in line with the highest emerging standards in the industry.

Background on the Companies

Evolutionary Security Management provides specialized that focuses on risk assessment and security oversight.  Based in Canada, it has provided support to federal departments and major organizations around the world, including support as a recognized maritime security training provider. Its principal consultant, Allan McDougall, has acted as a senior security advisor to a number of lead agencies within the maritime security domain, including Transport Canada, Canada Border Services Agency, the Canadian Coast Guard and the Department of Fisheries and Oceans after his military service. He holds numerous certifications within the security domain, including the Certified Protection Professional, Certified Master Anti-terrorism Specialist, Professional in Critical Infrastructure Protection and the Computer and Information Systems Security Professional.

ISSG Holdings, based in the Seychelles, is a leading provider of merchant ship protection. Using security practices that have withstood some of the most challenging and complex environments for over four years, ISSG Holdings can offer armed and unarmed ship security from Egypt across to Sri Lanka and from the Arabian Sea to the Southern Indian Ocean. Its principal operator, Michael Murrell has provided managerial and leadership within civilian policing and the Coast Guard. In addition to its direct services, ISSG Holdings offers specialized anti-piracy training and mentoring to companies that are operating in the region.

APPDS is based in Greece and provides defence procurement solutions that comply with all relevant international and national regulations and oversight. A key partner in the anti-piracy activities, it can coordinate ship protection and also offers the maritime security officer foundations course—a high intensity course that brings together experts from the maritime security and police communities to provide maritime security service providers with training that is intended to ensure the appropriate protection of vessels using modern use of force training standards.

We are proud to be included as part of the initial signatories to the ICoC and the community that is leading the industry in strong ethical practices.

For further information, please contact us at:

amcdougall@evolutionarysecurity.ca

admin@issg-seamarshalls.com

dstone@appds.co.uk

Chinese Ship Hijacked

As Reported HERE

China says pirates hijack cargo ship with 29 aboard in the Arabian Sea

By The Associated Press (CP) – 9 minutes ago

BEIJING, China — Pirates hijacked a cargo ship with 29 Chinese sailors aboard in the Arabian Sea and told the shipping company they were taking it toward Somalia, Chinese officials and state media said Saturday.
The attack came just two days after another 17 Chinese sailors returned home after being held by Somali pirates for four months. It also highlights the spread of piracy to areas outside the Gulf of Aden, a hijacking hot spot now patrolled by international forces.
An official with the China Marine Rescue Center, surnamed Yang, said the Panama-flagged ship Yuan Xiang was attacked Friday night. The Ningbo Hongyuan Ship Management Company reported the pirate attack to the rescue centre just before midnight and said the pirates were taking the ship toward Somalia, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported.
A man answering the phone Saturday at the company said they were still trying to contact the ship.
Xinhua said the attack occurred in an area outside the region where China's navy is part of a multination force working together to patrol the Gulf of Aden — one of the world's busiest shipping lanes — and other waters off Somalia where pirates operate.
Raids by Somali pirates accounted for more than half of the 406 sea attacks last year — the highest total in six years.
The jump came despite the deployment at the end of 2008 of the first international force specifically to counter Somali pirates, the European Union Naval Force.
While worldwide pirate attacks fell 18 per cent in the first half of 2010 from a year ago, the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting centre in July said pirates were shifting their attacks outside the Gulf of Aden zone now patrolled by the multination force.
It said attacks in the Somali basin — the country's coastal waters, excluding the Gulf of Aden — and the wider Indian Ocean rose to 51 in the first half of this year from 44 a year ago. At the same time, attacks in the Gulf of Aden dropped to 33 from 86 a year ago.
On Wednesday, another 17 Chinese sailors returned home after being held more than four months by Somali pirates, who newspaper reports said gave the sailors only one meal of boiled potatoes per day.
The Beijing Daily said the pirates were paid an undisclosed amount of money in ransom after the Shanghai-based ship's owner mortgaged his home and all his shipping company shares to raise funds.

INTERTANKO Slams Independent Convoys

As Reported HERE

Intertanko slams independent anti-piracy convoys

by Lloyd's List — last modified Nov 12, 2010 12:21 PM

Intertanko has criticised the independent national convoys that travel the Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor in the Gulf of Aden as being irregular and uncoordinated.

Intertanko Asia-Pacific regional manager Tim Wilkins said that while the industry appreciated the contribution of the national convoys to anti-piracy, the organisation’s membership had concerns.
He said Intertanko would like to see far greater coordination and regulation of the national convoys, but he would not identify individual countries involved.
China, India and South Korea are among the nations that have sent convoys to protect their own merchant shipping interests in the Gulf of Aden.
“It is felt a significant enhancement to the protection provided could be made by the coordination and de-confliction of such convoys,” he said.
A meeting had taken place on Monday in London where these views had been shared with representatives of the Maritime Security Centre Horn of Africa, Mr Wilkins said.
Intertanko had produced a document he referred to as a “standard convoy notification form”, which the organisation’s members said would “greatly assist with de-confliction”.