Why was a British security guard on the ship Iran attacked? - analysis

According to the BBC, the security contractor, Adrian Underwood, was a British army veteran of distinguished service. He was working for UK-based firm Ambrey, which is one of many companies that secures commercial vessels, and is part of a larger security industry that gained prominence in the wake of a surge in modern piracy.

“There was an initial peak in the 1990s and then another major peak around the year 2010,”  Dr. Jan Osburg, a senior engineer at the RAND Corporation, told The Jerusalem Post. The latter “is where the modern interest in piracy comes from, as well as in counter-piracy.”

The surge in piracy largely emanated from Somalia, starting in response to state and private actors in Somali waters.

“There was a lot of illegal fishing in Somali waters, especially Yemeni fishermen and from other neighboring countries, and the country didn’t have a strong central government,” Abdi Yusuf, a counter-terrorism expert based in Nairobi, told the Post. “The fishing community started to take up arms and defend their waters."

"יש 6-5 איראנים עם תחמושת על הסיפון": כך נשמעה השיחה בין המכלית שנחטפה אתמול למשמר החופים של איחוד האמירויות@itamargalitpic.twitter.com/zClLIaO58f

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) August 4, 2021

 

Once the unofficial coast guard began to seize vessels, “they realized it's an opportunity and they should take advantage of it. They captured one ship at the beginning and they were paid,” explained Yusuf. It was “worth doing business and they continued.”

Entrepreneurial pirate lords arose, who would fund voyages for a cut. Pirates organized, armed with AK-47s, RPGs and skiffs. 

The pirates communicated through satellite phones “while pretending to be fishermen,” said Yusuf. They would gather intelligence on their targets, and once they had “all the necessary information, they carried out a surprise attack and captured the ship.”

The pirates would use ladders to latch onto boats and board them. Ships with low decks were easiest for boarding. Once under their command, the pirates would hold the crew, cargo and vessel for ransom. 

When captains began to avoid the Somali coast, they converted trawlers to be “mother ships” in place of their skiffs, extending their range.

 

Piracy was lucrative to pirates, but cost the global economy billions of dollars.

 

 

WHILE PIRACY in the region “has gone down significantly, it was basically... seven years of being a big problem and measures were taken, including having private security contractors,” Osburg said.  

Security firms popped up to address the problem, recruiting veterans as security guards. This not only included British and American veterans, but Israelis as well. Several firms were essentially Israeli, though often UK-based. 

Teams of 3-6 would meet commercial ships at the edge of high risk areas, loading small arms from floating armories. Often it was enough to show weapons to send pirates looking for easier targets.

“If somebody starts shooting at you from on board the boat you tend to turn around and try to hijack another ship,” said Osburg. “No commercial ship with an armed security detachment on board has ever been successfully hijacked.”

Together with contractors, the shipping companies also developed defenses for ships.

 

“Other measures have been taken as well,” said Osburg. “For example, putting barbed wire along the ships to make it more difficult to board.”

 

Often vessels would electrify the wire, and set seawater-spraying hoses to repel climbers. Still others – to bolster deterrence or fake security presence – would build scarecrows.

Commercial ships would use maneuvers to protect themselves such as “convoys or staying close to... Navy warships,” explained Osburg.

Contractors were far from the sole reason for the decline in piracy. “The navies of Europe and the US, mostly, have had several warships in critical areas, especially off the Horn of Africa.”

While piracy has declined, maritime security contractors continued to ensure pirates did not hijack vessels. 

Now, commercial vessels and security contractors face a new threat. Underwood was killed by an alleged Iranian drone. And on August 4, the tanker Asphalt Princess was hijacked by armed Iranians.

Update on the situation involving the M/T Mercer Street: pic.twitter.com/sRuuyvwLA8

— Zodiac Maritime (@Zodiac_Maritime) July 30, 2021

 

 

“If there is a state actor or state-actor equivalent... that's a completely different ballgame.” Osburg said. “Your handful of guys with M-16s are not going to be able to do much against that.”  

Osburg explained that there were legal and “potential political and diplomatic challenges that may arise from a ship defending itself against a country like Iran,” which “would say was a... lawful boarding attempt,” As a result, contractors would likely not be allowed to engage.

“The maritime security industry needs to be vigilant, ready to do everything they can in order to safeguard the safety, the security and freedom of navigation,” Yusuf said. “They need to be prepared... to tackle the Iranian threat.”