Monthly Archives: June 2014

UGS MarSec Digest 25 June 2014

  June 25, 2014 ,
UG

 “Even Marine Police Armed Guards Are No Longer Legal in Nigerian Waters” By Ilias Papadopoulos Master in International Relations & Strategic Studies               This past week we had a very significant development in Nigeria. That is the ban of all security personnel, both private (already the case anyway) and state provided, on board vessels operating in Nigerian waters and its EEZ.             To take matters from the top, Nigeria never allowed the employment of PMSCs on board vessels operating in its waters and gives the alternative of employing locally provided guards from their Joint Task Force (JTF – a unit composed of Navy and Coast Guard personnel) or the Coast Guard (Marine Police). The measure by itself has attracted … Continue reading

UGS MarSec Digest 19 June 2014

  June 19, 2014 ,
UGS

UGS MarSec Digest 19/06/2014 By Ilias Papadopoulos Master in International Relations & Strategic Studies               Last week saw the rise of an unexpected danger in the Middle East, the radical Islamic ISIL (Islamic State for Iraq and the Levante), an offshoot of al Qaeda that operates in Iraq and Syria. Iraq is a country populated by three distinct groups, Sunni Muslims, Shi’a Muslims and Kurds, with the Shi’a being the majority. After the US intervention in the country in 2003 the later came to power and conducted along with their US allies counterterrorist operations against the radical Sunnis (then called al Qaeda in Iraq).             However two factors changed the largely successful approach in the country. The first was … Continue reading

UGS Weekly Digest 27 May – 01 Jun 2014

  June 10, 2014 ,
map of ghana west africa

Weekly Digest 02/06-08/06 By Ilias Papadopoulos Master in International Relations & Strategic Studies               This last week we had a major incident in maritime security, the hijack of Greek owned tanker MT Fair Artemis operated by Fairdeal S.A..             To take the events from the top, ‘Fair Artemis’ was operating in offshore Ghana waters on 04/06, with the last contact being made in 18:00 hrs. In 05/06 the vessel was declared as missing and a search for it was initiated. Subsequently an unnamed Ghanan official stated that the coast guard of Ghana received in 06/06 a distress signal from the vessel claiming that it was hijacked and looted 36nm in Togo national waters. Particularly the last clause should be … Continue reading