Dubai: Typhon, a British company set to launch a private navy to counter piracy in the region, is looking to base its operations in Dubai. The aim is to get the company’s escort ships operational by July. Simon Murray, the non-executive chairman of the mining giant Glencore, serves as chairman of Typhon. “With millions
Read moreFormer Australian military personnel are among thousands of private security guards who have been hired to protect commercial shipping in the Indian Ocean against attacks by Somali pirates. In a growing free-for-all on the high seas, merchant shipping operators are turning to what are effectively private navies to safeguard their vessels and cargoes. A
Read moreIt seemed like a simple idea: In the chaos that is Somalia, create a sophisticated, highly trained fighting force that could finally defeat the pirates terrorizing the shipping lanes off the Somali coast. But the creation of the Puntland Maritime Police Force was anything but simple. It involved dozens of South African mercenaries and
Read moreThis is how it ends for a Somali pirate: not with the bang of a rifle, but with a quiet fadeout into a sewing class, a vegetable garden and a basketball court. At least 34 convicted pirates are locked away in the remote city of Hargeisa, capital of the self-declared nation of Somaliland, where
Read more
