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Blackwater: We’ll defend against pirates

The military contractor Blackwater Worldwide is offering to protect merchant ships from pirates, the company announced Thursday, advertising the security services of its ship for use off the coast of Somalia or elsewhere.

A rash of pirate attacks has driven up the cost of insurance and pay for crew members aboard the thousands of merchant vessels that pass off the Horn of Africa, the company said, making it comparatively economical to engage its ship, the McArthur, and its crew of ex-military specialists.

“Billions of dollars of goods move through the Gulf of Aden each year,” said Blackwater vice president Bill Matthews in the announcement. “We have been contacted by ship owners who say they need our help in making sure those goods get to their destination safely. The McArthur can help us accomplish that.”

Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrell told Navy Times that the company has initially proposed protecting individual vessels — for example, the owner of a dry cargo ship would pay to have an escort by the McArthur as it passed off the lawless coast of Somalia, where pirates now are ransoming 11 ships.

But she didn’t rule out the idea that a shipping company could also engage the McArthur to loiter in a heavily traveled patch of ocean, patrolling for pirates or responding to requests for help.

Warships from several nations already patrol the Gulf of Aden, but it’s often unclear what capabilities they have to act against pirates under local and international laws. U.S. captains, for example, have been frustrated when they’ve tried to chase pirates inside the territorial waters of Somalia, which does not have a central government. Navies also have been skittish about sinking pirates’ vessels, out of confusion over whether they have the right to arrest them, or even whether pirates rescued on the high seas can ask for political asylum.

Piracy is not at all new, but its confusing legal implications are, said Capt. Douglas Hard, who teaches navigation law at the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, N.Y.

“Years ago, there was no doubt; you just blew them out of the water,” he said. “We’ve become a kinder, gentler society now. You didn’t used to worry about how to handle a pirate.”

On Sept. 22, Vice Adm. Bill Gortney, the Navy commander in the region, suggested that the shipping industry take extra precautions to protect its ships, because the local anti-piracy surface group, Combined Task Force 150, couldn’t be everywhere at once.

“The coalition does not have the resources to provide 24-hour protection for the vast number of merchant vessels in the region,” Gortney said. “The shipping companies must take measures to defend their vessels and their crews.”

A spokesman for Gortney, Lt. Nate Christensen, told Navy Times on Friday that although the Navy would not endorse any particular security firm, the Blackwater announcement was “an example of proactive defensive measures shipping companies can take in order to help prevent piracy attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off the coast of Somalia.”

“Even with the establishment of the maritime security patrol area, coalition forces have not always been close by to a ship being threatened — especially if the merchant vessel is not in the designated patrol area. Over the past several weeks, we have seen instances where coalition actions have thwarted events, but we have also had instances where vessels came under attack,” Christensen said.

Arming civilian mariners, however, raises its own tangle of international legal issues. U.S. Military Sealift Command cargo ships are crewed by civilians; when they sail through potentially hostile waters, the ships take aboard security teams composed of active-duty sailors.

Tyrell said that when Blackwater begins operating the McArthur on the high seas, it will get “all required Directorate of Defense Trade Controls licensing and would comply with applicable United States government provisos and restrictions.”

Blackwater’s CEO, Erik Prince, raised the possibility of getting into maritime security July 7, when he told Navy Times the company was interested in hiring ex-sailors with experience in riverine units and boardings at sea.

“Most of the world moves its stuff by water,” Prince said. “And maritime piracy is a growing problem, and I think there’re some private-sector solutions that are available when folks want to go to that measure as well.”

Although Prince and other initial founders of Blackwater are former Navy SEALs, the company has so far provided mostly ground and air support to its clients around the world.

Blackwater bought the 183-foot McArthur last year from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and converted it from a research vessel into a modern support ship, complete with a helicopter flight deck and accommodations for small boats and unmanned aerial vehicles.

Related reading:

1 ship freed, 1 captured, 3rd still in limbo (Oct. 14)

Somali pirates may extend deadline (Oct. 13)

Another ship seized as pirates issue threat (Oct. 11)

Ransom reduced to $8M, Somali pirate says (Oct. 7)

U.N. calls for action to fight Somali pirates (Oct. 7)

Navy: Crew on hijacked ship near Somalia OK (Oct. 6)

Somali pirates in stare-down with world powers (Oct. 5)

Navy: 4 failed pirate attacks in 24 hours (Oct. 4)

Somalia: World can use force against pirates (Oct. 1)

3 pirates reportedly dead in shootout on ship (Sept. 30)

More Navy ships follow hijacked vessel (Sept. 29)

Destroyer monitoring hijacked ship off Somalia (Sept. 28)