Since 2009, piracy in the waters off the eastern coast of Africa has grabbed the world’s attention and become a major problem for commercial and industrial shipping. Initially, many were caught off guard– the first vessels, hijacked in later 2008, were successfully ransomed for millions of dollars. Since those first incidents, the international community and […]
Swiss Merchants Resort to Private Security
August 2012 In 2009, the Federal Assembly of Switzerland voted against taking part in Operation Atalanta, a European Union Naval Force effort to prevent and combat acts of piracy in the Indian Ocean. This decision, however, apparently does not prevent private Swiss shipping companies from hiring their private security firms to secure their cargo. Surely, there […]
British Private Navy Wage War on Pirates
January 6th, 2013 A private fleet from the United Kingdom will soon sail on the Indian Ocean to help the defense effort against the region’s pirate problem. Among the fleet is a 10,000-ton flagship and numbers of armored speed boats that will be used for patrols. The fleet will be crewed by a group of […]