Aqua Sentry Corporation

Introduction

Today’s maritime business environment is plagued by a multitude of threats at sea and ashore. Aqua Sentry is an international maritime security and risk management firm committed to filling this gap by ensuring the protection of client assets at sea and ashore. We service our client’s needs through individualized identification of global threats, environmental and situational threat analysis and physical, on-site protection of employees and assets.

Aqua Sentry offers a full range of maritime protective services for all types of sea going vessels, from the largest freighters and tankers to luxury yachts and small boats. In addition, our services extend to shore facilities including ports, bunkers and private docks. Our experts protect our clients against crime, secure their assets and information, and advise them of risks associated with their global enterprise. Aqua Sentry specialists also provide extensive training for our clients’ employees to help them maximize risk reduction while conducting their business.

Our Experts

Aqua Sentry provides a wide and diversified range of talent to custom design and realize security solutions that fulfill client needs. Our active pool of security professionals includes experienced operations specialists from the international defense, law enforcement and intelligence communities.

Each of our professionals has operational training and real world experience in high threat, hostile environments including work in Somalia, Georgia, Chechnya, Afghanistan, Iraq, and other world conflict zones. In addition, our teams have extensive sea-based experience in both naval and merchant fleets.

Many of our specialists are multilingual and have trained foreign military, police and border personnel. They have served on protective security details for high profile VIP’s from both the government and private sectors.

At Aqua Sentry, we ensure our personnel adhere to strict professional standards to maximize the value our clients receive for the services we perform.

Risk Management

One of the most important aspects of comprehensive security is implementing an effective risk management process. Aqua Sentry works closely with each client to implement a risk management process for creating or updating existing mitigation plans that are customized to each organization and particular area of concern.

Our analysts use unique intelligence and information gathering capabilities to identify threats and match them against a client’s business operations, structure and plans.

For example, in the case of maritime and sea-based assets, we can update and manage a client’s ships security assessments by identifying and quantifying threats; reveal areas in which the organization is most vulnerable; and forecast the consequences should a threat materialize.

Ships operating under 16 knots with a freeboard of less than six meters should consider themselves at extremely high risk to pirate attack in some areas of the world

Using our expertise, Aqua Sentry can provide professional ships security plans to compliment our findings.

By implementing an effective risk management process, Aqua Sentry minimizes our client’s exposure to security risks while lessening unwanted disruptions and ensuring efficiency in business operations.

Threats

Piracy is growing in frequency, range, aggression, and severity at an alarming rate. For instance, Somali pirate groups have drastically expanded their scope of activities in the past several years and now operate along 2,300 miles of African coastline in an area covering over 2.5 million square miles of ocean.

The Gulf of Aden itself is a virtually undisputed pirate lane forming a natural chokepoint of access for vessels bound to the Red Sea, Indian Ocean, or Suez Canal. Somali Pirates, however, have ventured out from their traditional areas of control, and, as recent as early 2010, have harassed, attacked and taken hostage merchant vessels steaming as far out as 700 miles off the African coastline. In fact, Somali pirate activity has been reported in distant sectors of the Indian Ocean.

Somali-based piracy against chemical and oil tankers, freighters, cruise ships, yachts, and fishing vessels will likely continue largely unopposed while posing a serious threat to global shipping, freedom of navigation, and innocent passage

Depending on the characteristics and compliance of the victim vessel, pirates can board and commandeer a vessel in less than 20 minutes from the initial attack. If the hijacked vessel is of low ransom value, such as a fishing vessel or cargo dhow, pirates may use it opportunistically as a “mother ship” from which to launch additional attacks on larger, more lucrative merchant vessels such as oil tankers and heavy cargo freighters.

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Prevention

Aqua Sentry adheres to the philosophy that preventing pirate attacks and other criminal activity is both safer and more cost effective than rescuing hostages after an attack has occurred or forced payment of ransom for a crew and ship whose status cannot easily be determined with credibility.

Reliance upon world naval forces in the event of a pirate attack has proven largely ineffective given the range of pirate activities combined with the short time (20 minutes in most cases) necessary for pirates to conduct an attack and seize a ship. Indeed, it may take many hours or even a full day for any navy’s ship to reach a seized vessel in response to an attack; in that case, the responding ship usually has no option but to anchor nearby and simply observe events they are unable to affect.

Armed security professionals are essential because criminals are known to pass on “hard targets” or be deterred from further aggression once they discover armed resistance

Given these realities, Aqua Sentry recommends to our clients that they implement their own active and passive security measures to protect seafarers, vessels, and cargo directly and without reliance upon some observer fleet incapable of preventing harm and impacting their situation.

In addition to crew screening, barriers, control area restrictions, and secure communications, Aqua Sentry implements a simple, effective, proven process that includes placing armed professionals aboard client vessels and at their vulnerable port facilities, docks and bunkers. We believe the use of armed security teams in this context is an indispensable part of our clients’ ship and shore business operations.

Aqua Sentry guarantees that any attack against a client’s interests, while under the protection of Aqua Sentry and according to our guidelines, will be repulsed and all attackers repelled.

Services

The principle, measurable result provided by Aqua Sentry is the absolute protection of seafarers and property from ocean-related criminal threats. However, each service offering is highly customized based on an individualized assessment of our client’s risks. We understand services vary according to the need and unique situation of each customer and each assignment.

Aqua Sentry’s service delivery provides technical and tactical competence coupled with strategic insight into operational risks. Our security specialists are backstopped by top-tier information gathering and analytical capabilities that work in the field, not simply reading open, public sources alone. Our global reach and deep bench of talent allows us to quickly adapt to changing circumstances, technology and client needs.