Piracy and Maritime Terrorism, West Vs East Africa

For West Africa-- its mainly HIT AND RUN.

Meaning they are only interested in the cargo, not the hull and the kidnapping of the crew.
Sometimes ransom is taken-- about 8-10M USD per hull-- tanker sized please.

For Somali waters-- hijacks progress to moving crew to land while hull remains in port.
This means we are dealing with a kidnap and hijack at the same time.
Rest assured that if your insurance firm, if you used one at all, will not be happy to max out your policy just for one very VIP customer like you.

Do contact us to let us advise you on your security requirements.
Prevention is better than the cure as they always say.

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IMB notes increase in piracy off West Africa coast

by ASC Staff on Sep 9, 2012 

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The ICC International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB-PRC) has recorded a spike in activity off the coast of West Africa, logistics firm GAC reported on its website.
Since 18 August 2012, three vessels have been hijacked by pirates in this region. These recent attacks are notable as they have all been against tankers, with the purpose of stealing the valuable cargoes on board.
Furthermore, the incidents reported off West Africa are characterised by the degree of violence used against crew.
On 18 August 2012, a tanker was hijacked whilst at anchorage off Lome.
Another tanker was attacked nearby on 28 August 2012. On 5 September 2012, a tanker was boarded whilst at anchorage off Lagos. In the last case, the crew secured themselves in the vessel's citadel whilst the Nigerian navy despatched a helicopter and warship to successfully rescue the vessel.
IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan said: "The attacks off West Africa follow a different modus operandi from pirate activity in other parts of the world. In addition to armed robbery, the more serious attacks involve the hijacking of product tankers to steal a part of the cargo. All the attacks usually involve high levels of violence against the crew. After the hijacking the product is lightered on to smaller vessel to be taken and sold illegally in the region. There has long been a market for the distribution and supply of these illegal oil cargoes."

Train as You Fight II

There are many police and second tier SF teams that train only with paper targets, sometimes steel reaction targets in the mix, or robotic range targets (basically the target silhouette moving on an electric rail system), or shooting at target mannequins...

We have always recommended that training should replicate real life.. at minimum mannequins holding SHOOT or NO SHOOT items should be used... regardless of range lighting conditions.

Night, and day plus distraction devices (for example shock wave simulators and strobes etc) are available in more advanced ranges in www.KASOTC.com

Actions of Team Members are even recorded on wall mounted camera in advanced firing ranges.

SF team members need realism-- not the first time realism expected when responding to a real life incident.

Whereas a lot of SF instructors teach "running the walls" upon room entry-- consider this-- in the real world desks, furniture and various obstacles line the walls... learn to improvise... run over, run around or even shoot through obstacles when in doubt.

Train as YOU will certainly fight!

Quite recently we had a chance to talk to a drug enforcement agency of a major and very clean Asian city.

When we mentioned that they should equip their H and K pistols with silencers and lasers/lights... they said they are experimenting...

They do not make entry with SMGs or carbines, given that illegal arms are a rarity in their country. They do not train to fire with silencers given that this will reduce explosions in firefights in a clandestine drug lab with explosive gases and materials. A raider from the unit told us-- that things need 'approval from the Minister of Justice' and that their enforcement unit does not have the same heavy duties as the US DEA...

We feel this is wrong... a full set of SWAT (Police) training should be offered, retraining programs should be in place, and shooting for all special units should be, SF standards with pistols, shotguns, sniper rifles, carbines et al.

Always enter with full weapons and gear compliment to make the bad guys surrender quickly with no firefights. But unfortunately the drug agent we spoke to said they don't want to have so much gear that the bad guys would run away. Our experience suggest that lasers and super bright weapons lights would be more than adequate to stun the occupants.

The high seas have been peaceful lately

Except with the Iranians...
Does anybody have information on the Iranian nuclear bomb program lately?

MV Eglantine owners...  feel free to contact us to help resolve your crisis.

Our kind regards to the owners of the Garden of Eden.

;)

Congratulations

But now we have to work on the other hostage--
Michael Scott Moore... he was moved around Somalia a lot after the rescue below...

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Jessica Buchanan "overwhelmed," grateful

Jessica Buchanan (AP Photo)

(CBS/AP)  

GOODE, Va. -- An American aid worker rescued by Navy SEALs in Somalia last month says she's thankful for the support she's received.

Thirty-two-year-old Jessica Buchanan was rescued last month along with a 60-year-old Danish man. The two were working with a demining unit when gunmen kidnapped them in October.

In a statement issued from her hometown of Goode, Va., Buchanan says she's overwhelmed and grateful for the encouragement she and her family have received from around the world.

She also says she's "beginning to transition back into everyday life."

The U.S. government said the raid was prompted by Buchanan's deteriorating health. In the statement, Buchanan asked for privacy as she focuses on everyday life and healing.

She thanked President Obama and those who planned and orchestrated her rescue.

The news below-- just in today is self-explanatory.


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American kidnapped in Somalia

2012-01-22 10:44

Mogadishu - Gunmen kidnapped an American man in the northern Somali town of Galkayo on Saturday, officials said.

The gunmen surrounded the man's car shortly after the man left the airport, said policeman Abdi Hassan Nur, who witnessed the incident. He said they then forced the American into another vehicle.

Galkayo is on the border between the semiautonomous northern region of Puntland and a region known as Galmudug. It is ruled by forces friendly to the UN-backed Somali government.

A minister from the Galmudug administration said the kidnapped man is an American engineer who came to Somalia to carry out an evaluation for building a deep water port in the town of Hobyo. The gunmen severely beat the foreigner's Somali companion when he begged them not to take the man, said the minister.

The minister spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press.

Kidnapping for ransom

A staff member at the Embassy Hotel, where the man was staying, said the American had gone to the airport to drop off an Indian colleague. The hotel said that the man had both American and German citizenship. The staff member asked not to be identified because he was not supposed to give out information about guests.

Michael Scott Moore

In October, gunmen kidnapped an American woman and a Danish man working for the Danish Demining Group from the same town. They are still being held.

Kidnapping for ransom is has become increasingly common in Somalia over the past five years. Currently at least four aid workers, a French military official, a British tourist taken from Kenya and hundreds of sailors are being held captive.

An airstrike killed six people near the insurgent stronghold of Kismayo on Saturday, according to Sheik Mohamud Abdi, a senior commander of the al-Shabab militant group. In another airstrike outside Mogadishu, a British-Lebanese commander of al-Shabab was killed along with two others when a missile struck the car they were traveling in, al-Shabab spokesperson Sheik Ali Rage said.

Rage identified the British-Lebanese commander as Bilal-Berjawi, saying he was a close associate of late al-Qaeda operative Fazul Abdullah Mohammed, the mastermind behind the 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania who was killed by a Somali soldier in June 2011.

Kenya sent troops into Somalia in October amid concerns that Somalia's 21-year-old civil war was spilling over the countries' joint border.

- AP

Places for SU!

Sukhoi Su-25   Ethiopia ,  Kazakhstan,  Gambia,  Equatorial Guinea,  Democratic Republic of the Congo,  Chad,  Angola et al

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sukhoi_Su-25

SU-27-  Angola ,  Belarus ,  Eritrea ,  Ethiopia ,  Kazakhstan,  Ukraine,
  Uzbekistan

SU-30,  Algeria,  Uganda