Aegis - A London based, privately owned, British security and risk management company with overseas offices in Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Kenya, Nepal and the USA. Aegis specialises in the identification, analysis and mitigation of risk, providing a commercially focused approach to security and risk management through three divisions: Research and Intelligence, Security Operations and Technical Services.
Broadcast Warnings - Broadcast Warnings are promulgated by the Worldwide Navigational Warnings Service (WWNWS) to provide rapid dissemination of information critical to navigation and the safety of life at sea. Navigational Warnings are issued regularly and contain information about persons in distress, or objects and events that pose an immediate hazard to navigation. The four types of Navigational Warnings - NAVAREA IV, HYDROLANT, NAVAREA XII, and HYDROPAC - are categorized by their location.
Global Maritime Distress & Safety System (GMDSS) - Consists of several systems, some of which are new, but many of which have been in operation for many years. The system will be able to reliably perform the following functions: alerting (including position determination of the unit in distress), search and rescue coordination, locating (homing), maritime safety information broadcasts, general communications, and bridge-to-bridge communications. Specific radio carriage requirements depend upon the ship's area of operation, rather than its tonnage. The system also provides redundant means of distress alerting, and emergency sources of power.
ICC Commercial Crime Services - The anti-crime arm of the International Chamber of Commerce. The specialist divisions that comprise CCS offer a range of services dedicated to meeting the individual needs of their members. Together, they tackle all types of commercial crime, including malpractice and documentary fraud in international trade, insurance fraud, financial instrument fraud, money laundering, shipping fraud and product counterfeiting.
MarineTraffic.com -
Vessel positions tracking based on AIS data. Real-time ship locations and port arrivals departures.
Maritime Safety Information - The mission of the Maritime Division, National Geospacial-Intelligence Agency is to provide global maritime geospatial intelligence in support of national security objectives including safety of navigation, international obligations, intelligence activities and joint military operations.
Maritime Security Centre -
Provides a service to mariners in the Gulf of Aden, the Somali Basin and off the Horn of Africa. It is a Coordination Centre dedicated to safeguarding legitimate freedom of navigation in the light of increasing risks of pirate attack against merchant shipping in the region, in support of the UN Security Council’s Resolutions (UNSCR) 1814, 1816 and 1838.
Maritime Security Council (MSC) -
A non-profit, member-driven organization representing ocean carriers, cruise lines, importers/exporters, logistics providers, port and terminal operators, and related maritime industries throughout the world. MSC is active in government and regulatory affairs. It represented the shipping industry in the development of the Carrier Initiative Program, Super Carrier Initiative Agreement, and C-TPAT Version 1 and 2 for Sea Carriers.
Mobile Offshore Drilling Units (MODU) - MODU are facilities designed or modified to engage in drilling and exploration activities. The term MODU includes drilling vessels, semisubmersibles, submersibles, jack-ups, and similar facilities that can be moved without substantial effort. These facilities may or may not have self-propulsion equipment on board and may require dynamic positioning equipment or mooring systems to maintain their position.
Self-Propelled Semi-Submersible (SPSS) Watercraft - Most drugs departing Colombia go by sea -- either "go-fast" boats, fishing vessels, commercial shipping, or the relatively new method of Self-Propelled Semi-Submersible watercraft (SPSS). Typically, in the eastern Pacific, fishing vessels carrying multi-ton loads of cocaine depart Colombian and Ecuadorian Pacific coast ports for delivery points along the Central American or Mexican coast. In the Caribbean, high-speed "go-fast" vessels, hauling as much as two metric tons of cocaine at a time, leave Colombia 's north coast for delivery points in the eastern Caribbean, or hug the Central American coastline in their track north to points along the Central American and Mexican coastlines. A fishing vessel operation can last up to six weeks, while go-fast operations run normally one or two days. The number of go-fast boats involved in smuggling has increased substantially in the past few years. Such craft are small, very fast, nearly invisible to radar, and difficult to see in daylight. To counter the go-fast threat, the Coast Guard has acquired new equipment and developed capabilities to use armed helicopters, over-the-horizon cutter boats, and non-lethal vessel-stopping technologies. The seizure in 2000 of a partially constructed, 100-foot submarine outside the city of Bogota reflected the versatility and financial resources of Colombian drug traffickers. Had it been completed, this submarine would have been capable of transporting up to ten metric tons of cocaine to the United States, about five percent of annual US demand, while remaining at snorkel depth the entire trip.
Also see USCG's "A Look Inside a Self-Propelled Semi-Submersible Vessel - Video".
Transportation Worker Identification Credential (TWIC) - TWIC is a biometric credential that ensures only vetted workers are eligible to enter a secure area of a Maritime Transportation Security Act-regulated port or vessel unescorted.
The enrollment process consists of the following components: optional pre-enrollment, in-person enrollment, security threat assessment and notification of the results, and issuance of the TWIC to the applicant. Applicants may pre-enroll online to enter all of the biographic information required for the threat assessment and make an appointment at the enrollment center to complete the process (although appointments are not required). Then applicants must visit the enrollment center where they will pay the enrollment fee, complete a TWIC Application Disclosure Form, provide biographic information and a complete set of fingerprints, and sit for a digital photograph. The applicant must bring identity verification documents to enrollment and in the case of aliens, immigration documents that verify their immigration status, so that the documents can be scanned into the electronic enrollment record.
U.S. Notice to Mariners - Provides timely marine safety information for the correction of all U.S. Government navigation charts and publications from a wide variety of sources both foreign and domestic. To ensure the safety of life at sea, the information published in the Notice to Mariners is designed to provide for the correction of unclassified nautical charts, the Unclassified NGA/DLIS Catalog of Hydrographic Products, United States Coast Pilots, NGA List of Lights, USCG Light Lists, and other related nautical publications produced by NGA, NOS and the USCG.
World-Wide Navigational Warning Service (WWNWS) - WWNWS is a co-ordinated global service for the promulgation of navigational warnings. WWNWS is established through the joint efforts of the International Hydrographic Organization (IHO) and the International Maritime Organization (IMO). These navigational warnings form part of the Maritime Safety Information (MSI) and are broadcasted via NAVTEX and SafetyNET.
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Sunday, May 20, 2012 11:33 AM
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