Risk Intelligence presents "Piracy's unending threat"

Executive presentation at Break Bulk Europe in Antwerp highlighted specific threats to the Multi Purpose Vessel operators

On 16 May 2013 Risk Intelligence's Chief Analyst Nis Leerskov Mathiesen gave an Executive presentation for attendants at the Break Bulk Europe conference.

The current development of Kidnap/Ransom tactics off Nigeria is of particular interest for companies operating Multi Purpose Vessels as these are disproportionately represented in the area and are actively targeted.

On the Horn of Africa, the piracy threat has definitely declined and although the pirate infrastructure remains in place, there are several opportunities for moving Break Bulk cargo in the region.

The presentation can be seen here. 

Copenhagen Customer seminar

Risk Intelligence organised a successful customer seminar for Danish and Swedish customers

Risk Intelligence has held a customer seminar in Gentofte, Copenhagen for a group of Danish and Swedish clients, which included both private and government sectors.
 
The seminar included an update on the Horn of Africa, on North Africa and Middle East as well as on West Africa. Furthermore, due dilligence of PMSCs were discussed and the day ended with a workshop on Best Management Practices for West Africa based on Risk Intelligence's Best Practices document from late Summer 2012. All participants agreed that the BMP from Horn of Africa does not apply to West Africa and an operations-focused BMP is needed in this area.

Each year Risk Intelligence organises customer seminars in various countries. The seminars have been organised since 2005 in Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Germany, The Netherlands, Greece, Singapore and in the UK.

The first coming up are in Norway and in Germany. These seminars are by invitation only. 

Piracy legislation does not guarantee proper planning

A proposed change to the Danish Seafarers’ legislation will mean that companies are mandated to prepare for a hijacking situation beforehand.

The Danish-based maritime security intelligence company Risk Intelligence believes seafarers and shipping companies will benefit from having efficient contingency plans. But having a plan to meet legislation is not enough. Many contingency plans are never updated or rehearsed.

“The ability to actually execute the plan is the key. Such a plan is only efficient when revised and rehearsed on a regular basis. Both planning and execution should involve the individual stakeholders in person in order to practice teamwork and identify deficiencies in the plan”, says Henrik Ehlers Kragh, Corporate Risk Projects Manager in Risk Intelligence.

He points out that such a plan should include all internal and external stakeholders and describe their roles, responsibilities and practical procedures in detail. Such a contingency plan for a hijacking situation will speed up internal emergency procedures and subsequently negotiations.

“No plan can include all possible scenarios and no matter how good the plan is, it will need to be adapted to the situation at hand. Knowledge of the plan, of the stakeholders and of the procedures will speed up the emergency team’s ability to adapt the plan to the incident and subsequently make the company ready for negotiations faster”, says Henrik Ehlers Kragh.

He adds that legislation on this matter may be a good way to ensure a standard level of formal preparation. 

Risk Intelligence appoints new Corporate Risk Projects Manager

Henrik Ehlers Kragh joins Risk Intelligence

Risk Intelligence has announced the appointment of Henrik Ehlers Kragh as Corporate Risks Projects Manager based out of the main office in Vedbaek, Denmark.

Henrik will be responsible for coordinating Risk Intelligence corporate initiatives and managing client projects across business areas. He will also be responsible for a number of business development and client relations initiatives. Initially, Henrik will be responsible for conducting our 2013 customer survey in order for Risk Intelligence to better understand our customers’ current needs and requirements.

“We are happy to welcome Henrik Ehlers Kragh as Corporate Risk Projects Manager in Risk Intelligence. He will add significant experience both from the military, civilian think tank and from commercial shipping operations“ says Hans Tino Hansen, CEO of Risk Intelligence.

Before joining Risk Intelligence Henrik was Head of Anti-Piracy Coordination in Maersk Line and he has been working with complex maritime risk and security issues since early 2007.

Before retiring from the Danish Army as a major Henrik held a number of command and staff positions, among other as an analyst at the Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) and as Military Assistant to the Queen of Denmark. Beside risk and security, Henrik’s career also covers areas such as military support to capacity building and disaster & conflict assistance. Further, Henrik has served in several international missions.

Henrik has graduated the Joint General Staff Course at the Royal Danish Defence College and holds an international master in Disaster Management from Copenhagen and Lund universities.

A more detailed CV on Henrik may be found on LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/pub/dir/Henrik/Kragh 

Nigerian criminals most innovative pirates in 2013

Pirate activity in West Africa saw a slight decline in 2012. But Nigerian pirates will increasingly pose the most diverse threat to international shipping in 2013.

“West African piracy is far more complex than piracy in the Indian Ocean. It combines the threats of armed robbery, kidnap-and-ransom and short-duration hijackings. Some Nigerian groups are well-organised, have significant local backing and are very innovative in developing new forms of highly profitable piracy. So despite that we’re not seeing an increase in number of attacks, it’s no surprise that Nigerian piracy is currently keeping many shipping companies awake at night”, says Analyst Thomas Horn Hansen, Risk Intelligence.

Risk Intelligence recorded a total of 89 attacks in the West African region in 2012. This is a slight drop from the 116 incidents reported the year before.

Despite the decline, West Africa is fast becoming a key concern for global shipping. Since late 2010, Nigeria-based pirate groups have targeted product tankers carrying refined products such as diesel in order to steal the cargo and put in for sale on the local black market. Risk Intelligence has recorded 78 attempted attacks on product tankers and 27 short-duration hijackings since December 2010.

“West African pirates tend to use a high level of violence against crew and there are not many countermeasures that can be used by the shipping industry. Shipping companies cannot always rely on local security forces and local laws place constraints on the use of private security companies across the region, making it difficult to tackle the problem”, says Thomas Horn Hansen.

“We have seen some government efforts to crack down on organised piracy in 2012, particularly in Nigeria, but the problem still appears to be spreading in the region. Although piracy in West Africa is still at a lower level than a few years back, it is not clear how either governments or the shipping industry can effectively address the problem in the near future”, says Thomas Horn Hansen. 

Risk Intelligence reduces size of its Horn of Africa High Risk Area

The maritime security intelligence company Risk Intelligence has reduced its Horn of Africa High Risk Area for the first time since 2007. The reduction of the High Risk Area is done to reflect the current decline of Somali pirate activity.

“When Somali piracy expanded it was easy enough. High risk areas were drawn up, further and further from the coast. But with the reduction in the frequency of attacks, we assessed that now was the time to start taking the consequences of that and reduce the area in an intelligent way”, says Nis Leerskov Mathiesen, Chief Analyst in Risk Intelligence.

Risk Intelligence’s analysts have looked at all the areas of the wider Horn of Africa region and analysed in each of them, in order to assess where the High Risk Area should be reduced and where it should be preserved. Pirate, merchant marine and navy activity was all factored in.

“The revision is not based only on the declining numbers of attacks that are apparent to all. But it is rooted in the experience and expertise of the Risk Intelligence team of analysts and consultants and draws on statistical incident information, intelligence from local sources and systematic forecasting of the short and medium term”, says Nis Leerskov Mathiesen.

The most substantial change in the MaRisk Horn of Africa High Risk Area is that it now has its eastern border from Diu Head in India to Minicoy Island. This excludes a stretch of the Indian coast.

The Risk Intelligence High Risk Area is drawn up in the online maritime threat monitor MaRisk (www.marisk.dk) and is not similar to the official High Risk Area designated in the Best Management Practices (BMP). The MaRisk High Risk Area is identifies a “substantial higher risk of attacks”. This means that it does not guarantee that there is no risk outside the area.

“It is very important to understand that although the likelihood of an attack might be significantly lower outside the designated High Risk Area, the chances of pirate success and the outcome of both failed and successful attacks are still the same”, says Nis Leerskov Mathiesen.

The High Risk Area and the current threats that have defined it are described in the latest issue of the series of maritime security reports Strategic Insights (www.strategicinsights.eu). 

Risk Intelligence concludes successful SMM exhibition

SMM Hamburg

Click on photo to see more.

Risk Intelligence concluded a successful SMM exhibition in Hamburg Friday 7 September 2012, where we managed to meet both a large selection of our German clients as well as companies which showed interest in our services.

Also, importantly, the week gave a good opportunity to meet with business partners and discuss future developments. 

Meet Risk Intelligence at SMM 4-7 September 2012

Stand 101 in Hall B8

Risk Intelligence is proud to announce that we will be having a stand at the international shipping exhibition SMM in Hamburg 4-7 September 2012.

The company will be presenting its products and services from stand 101 in the hall B8 Maritime Security & Defence. We are looking forward to launch new products and present important new developments in Risk Intelligence.

We are hoping to meet many new people as well as our existing clients during the week in Hamburg.

Visit the SMM Hamburg webpage 

Pirate swarm attacks is a myth

Press release

Every summer shipping companies are warned about large swarms of pirate boats off the Horn of Africa. The warnings are based on reports from ships in the area and put out by security companies and governments. The only problem is that pirate swarms do not exist, according to the Danish intelligence company Risk Intelligence.

“We have monitored these rather panicky reports since at least 2008, when a European Naval vessel reported swarms of up to 20 pirate skiffs. But it is a misunderstanding every year. The phenomenon can be understood and described as something else every time it is reported” says Nis Leerskov Mathiesen, Chief Analyst with Risk Intelligence.

The swarm attack reports always start coming out when the monsoon brings rough weather to large swaths of the Arabian Sea and Indian Ocean. This means that small boat traffic moves to more sheltered waters, most significantly fishermen and smugglers. Both these groups use small boats similar to those of the pirates. And both groups manoeuvre in ways that can frighten a master of a merchant vessel. Fishermen will move at high speed towards merchant vessels, either to protect their nets or to benefit from the wake and wash of a ship. Smugglers are often “jumping” from ship to ship at high speed to stay hidden from radar surveillance. Pirates are sometimes present in the area as well. They hide in larger groups of boats. They then attack and lookouts confuse background traffic with pirate accomplices.

“We have never seen any proof that an attack is carried out by more than a small handful of skiffs. So the repeating reports of 10 and 20 strong “swarms” is a question of wrong observation in the heat of the battle and short-sighted analysis by those who put out the warnings. The effect is fear mongering”, says Nis Leerskov Mathiesen.

Risk Intelligence is a Danish-based company that specialises in maritime security intelligence in support of shipping companies, navies and maritime organisations. You can read Risk Intelligence’s background briefing on Swarm Attacks on the right hand side of page. 

Sir James Burnell-Nugent joins Risk Intelligence as Strategic Advisor

Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent KCB, CBE, formerly commander-in-chief Royal Navy and current director of Orchard Leadership, has joined Risk Intelligence as a Strategic Advisor.

Admiral Sir James Burnell-Nugent commanded a range of warships including the aircraft carrier Invincible in the British Royal Navy after achieving a Master’s Degree at Cambridge University, and concluded his career as full Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the Fleet. He was knighted in 2004. He is a graduate of the Greenwich Joint Services Defence College and an Honorary Fellow of Corpus Christi College Cambridge.

CEO of Risk Intelligence Hans Tino Hansen comments “I am very pleased with having Sir James onboard as Strategic Advisor. His experience in leadership and operational background will provide an important contribution to the strategic development of the company. An important role will be to chair the Advisory Board”.

Sir James Burnell-Nugent comments “I am very pleased to be able to contribute to the exciting development of Risk Intelligence at a time of increasing global concerns with maritime security”.

Risk Intelligence is a security intelligence company providing intelligence products and intelligence-based advisory services to mainly shipping, oil & gas, offshore and other maritime-related companies as well as governmental clients. Today, Risk Intelligence supports the secure operation of more than 12% of the World shipping fleet as well as large parts of offshore operations globally.

If you require additional information, please contact the below or visit www.riskintelligence.eu

Any questions should be directed to:

Hans Tino Hansen              Managing Director & CEO +45 70 26 62 30 

Maritime crime in Nigeria is alive and well

Risk Intelligence releases its annual analysis and forecast of the maritime security situation in Nigeria.

Nigerian piracy has not declined in 2011; it has merely moved elsewhere, according to analysis by the Denmark-based maritime security intelligence company Risk Intelligence.

For 2011, Risk Intelligence has recorded 70 Nigeria-related attacks against offshore oil & gas and against maritime targets – up from 58 attacks recorded for 2010. Nigerian criminals began to focus on product tankers in December 2010, when they attacked the Italian tanker VALLE DI CORDOBA off Cotonou. In 2011, they have attacked 30 tankers off Lagos, Lomé, and Cotonou and two more off the Niger Delta.

See the right hand side for the assessment. 

New MaRisk tools will be launched 6 December 2011

Weather and optional voyage planning now included

New tools
MaRisk will soon be updated with new tools and functionalities.

• Weather overlay: Show weather forecast data directly on the MaRisk map
• Datum: Shows likely Somali pirate group attack ranges
• Distance tool: Measure distances on the map
• Report functionality: Send or download an overview of incidents in a given time-span
• Voyage planner: Plot, share and import vessel routes

Sponsor for Vedbæk Havnedag 21 August 2011

Risk Intelligence sponsors local event

Risk Intelligence sponsors the local event Vedbæk Havnedag on Sunday 21 August 2011. The event on the Vedbæk Marina connects local organisations, businesses and other for a day of activities in and around the harbour and marina.

With its focus on maritime security and its location 100m from the marina, Risk Intelligence has found it natural to support this excellent initiative.

During the day Risk Intelligence will have an exhibition stand to explain about our activities.

Follow Vedbæk Havnedag at the Facebook page
 

Sailing ship hijackings 2008-2011

After the hijacking of the Danish yacht ING on 24 February 2011, Risk Intelligence outlines the background of yacht hijackings off Somalia.

Please find the briefing under "News", in the right hand corner under "Sailing boats 2011".