News for and from Security Companies Regarding Pirate Raids on Freight and Passenger Vessels

YEMEN – ASIA – THE AMERICAS – UK – In future the Yemeni Director of Operations and the National Center for Fighting Piracy must be informed of the names of anyone permitted to have weapons aboard any ship, together with copies of their passports, the specification of all arms, and the licence of the security company, its location and the number of its protection members. This information must be made available to the Coast Guard at least 72 hours before a vessel arrives at a Yemeni port together with the lodgement of a $2000 ‘safe deposit’ fee by the relevant port agency.

Meanwhile UK headquartered maritime intelligence agency Dryad Maritime has unveiled plans for a strategic expansion of their operations into Asia Pacific and the Americas. The formal announcement will be made at the Posidonia 2014 Exhibition, hosted in Athens once again by the Greek ship owning community between 2 – 6 June (brochure viewable here) when Dryad will be revealing the future vision, business strategies and broader expansion plans that are to guide the company's growth throughout this year and beyond.

The multi-award winning company will be represented in the new region and led by Karen Jacques the group’s Chief Operating Officer who was this year’s Freight Transport Association Innovation and Sustainability award winner, who has now been relocated to the Pacific and appointed as the Director for the Asia Pacific Region. She commented:

“It is a very exciting time for Dryad as we continue to develop a leading role within our industry in one of the fastest-growing regions of the world and it demonstrates our commitment to both current and future clients in these areas."

The expansion follows steady success for Dryad Maritime, a company that has grown from a small niche Portsmouth-based business to a global provider of maritime intelligence and operations services in just six years. The new operation in Singapore will provide additional support for Dryad’s growing multinational client base across the Asia Pacific region whilst broader expansion plans will see Dryad expand their offering through the launch of several new services which will provide support to maritime operators during normal operations, when at risk and during crisis operations. Graeme Gibbon Brooks, Managing Director Dryad Maritime commented:

“We are really excited about our expansion plans which we hope will be the start of several more. The initiative underscores our commitment to delivering effective operational and risk mitigation support to our customer base within the Asia and Pacific regions.”

Photo: Courtesy of Dryad Maritime