US Security Firm Pledges to Eliminate Somali Pirates
Jim Kouri, CPP
December 01, 2005
The waters off the coast of crisis-torn Somalia are believed to be the most dangerous on the high seas. Just last month, pirates firing shoulder-held, rocket-propelled grenades or RPGs and fully-automatic assault rifles attacked a US-owned cruise liner about 100 miles off the Somali coast. The ocean liner was able to escape the attack using security countermeasures. Intelligence officials are still not certain if the pirates were seeking to board the vessel or trying to destroy it while killing the passengers and crew.
In response to this latest attack, the Somali government -- a government practically in exile because of warlords, Al-Qaeda and Wahhabi terrorists -- has signed a contract with an United States-based security company that specializes in marine special operations. The hope is that the security firm will put an end to the proliferating piracy in that African region.
New York-based Topcat Marine Security signed a deal worth more than $50 million with the Somali Transitional Federal Government, which is temporarily based in Nairobi, to escort ships traveling through Somali waters.
Topcat is one of the world's foremost private security agencies offering clients law enforcement, counterterrorism and marine combat specialists. Topcat's client list includes the US Department of Homeland Security. They use state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment in order to mount offensive operations against pirates or terrorists who use the high seas for their acts of terrorism and piracy.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi has said his government recognized the damage caused by pirates and hoped Topcat would help end their reign of terror.
"The agreement signed today will defend Somalia's territorial waters, defeat the pirates," Gedi said, "The government wishes to express its dismay at these abhorrent actions."
Peter Casini, Topcat's head of research and development, said once in operation his company would target a mother ship used by the pirates to launch attacks on passing vessels.
"We will end the piracy very quickly, there is no question about that," Casini said in a press release. "There is a ship that is launching small ships 75 to 100 miles from the shore, our goal is to take the mother ship."
According to reports, there have been 32 pirate attacks reported since March. They involved suspected Somali pirates or terrorists or both. Somalia has been without a central government since 1991, when rival warlords with ties to Al-Qaeda took control of the country perpetrating a reign of terror against their own people.
In response to this latest attack, the Somali government -- a government practically in exile because of warlords, Al-Qaeda and Wahhabi terrorists -- has signed a contract with an United States-based security company that specializes in marine special operations. The hope is that the security firm will put an end to the proliferating piracy in that African region.
New York-based Topcat Marine Security signed a deal worth more than $50 million with the Somali Transitional Federal Government, which is temporarily based in Nairobi, to escort ships traveling through Somali waters.
Topcat is one of the world's foremost private security agencies offering clients law enforcement, counterterrorism and marine combat specialists. Topcat's client list includes the US Department of Homeland Security. They use state-of-the-art weaponry and equipment in order to mount offensive operations against pirates or terrorists who use the high seas for their acts of terrorism and piracy.
Prime Minister Mohamed Ali Gedi has said his government recognized the damage caused by pirates and hoped Topcat would help end their reign of terror.
"The agreement signed today will defend Somalia's territorial waters, defeat the pirates," Gedi said, "The government wishes to express its dismay at these abhorrent actions."
Peter Casini, Topcat's head of research and development, said once in operation his company would target a mother ship used by the pirates to launch attacks on passing vessels.
"We will end the piracy very quickly, there is no question about that," Casini said in a press release. "There is a ship that is launching small ships 75 to 100 miles from the shore, our goal is to take the mother ship."
According to reports, there have been 32 pirate attacks reported since March. They involved suspected Somali pirates or terrorists or both. Somalia has been without a central government since 1991, when rival warlords with ties to Al-Qaeda took control of the country perpetrating a reign of terror against their own people.
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