January 2013 The United Kingdom has pledged to invest $3.56 million in anti-piracy capacity building efforts in East Africa. The funds are primarily marked for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC). The Office has set up a Post Trial Transfer Program which aims to set up prisons in Somalia to hold pirates […]
Anti-piracy centre open for business
February 2013 British Foreign Office Minister Alistair Burt announced a major step forward in the fight against piracy in waters east of Africa. Burt recently spoke at the opening ceremony of the Regional Anti-Piracy Prosecution & Intelligence Coodination Center (RAPPICC), located in the island nation in the Seychelles. The RAPPICC will serve as an information […]
Shipping Faces New Security Challenge
Piracy in the Indian Ocean has been greatly reduced in recent years thanks to increased presence of international fleets, and also thanks to private shipping companies using armed-guards aboard their vessels. Unfortunately, the use of armed-guards is surrounded by a murky legal situation. While international rules and regulations remain undefined, many countries have banned ships […]
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 […]