Master mariner, Captain Jim Staples shares his views on going to sea, shipboard security, and what the modern mariner's life is like. ...
Has piracy been defeated? Unless you read maritime related publications, which keep close watch on piracy activity around the globe, you might think the pirates are gone. Quite the contrary is true. According to the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which serves as...
Why do U.S. owned private maritime security teams continually get in trouble on ships overseas? Does the U.S. adhere to a lower standard than the rest of the world when it comes to private maritime security? The answer may surprise you. The United States government reimburses...
As the Department of Defense faces looming budget cuts, the various branches of the military must be scrambling to assure the administration as to the efficacy of their various programs. The service provided during war time it is clear and higher military spending is easily...
Cynicism runs rampant through our federal government. It is contagious and spreads to those who have any regular interaction with government employees and personnel. It is almost a form of communication unto itself, a learned vernacular of the trade. Taking into account the cynical state...
This Bloomberg Businessweek article details the advent of convoys-for-hire as a new protective service for merchant vessels transiting the High Risk Area off the coast of Somalia. This new service brings to mind a few serious concerns. The primary concern is one of jurisdiction. Who will...
There are a few human reactions you can assume to be fairly consistent. Greed, fear, and denial top my list. Somali piracy is pure greed while the reaction by the international community to piracy is a varying combination of denial and fear. At some point...
The worst sort of enemy to fight against is one who has nothing to lose. We have seen that repeatedly with terrorists who strap themselves with explosives and sacrifice their lives for the cause of Allah. Of course, terrorists generally are motivated by ideology. In...