Rival UK anti-piracy firms spark 'army-navy' tiff over market share

INTER-REGIMENTAL rivalry is brewing fast between veterans of the British Army's Special Air Service and the navy's Royal Marines over market share in anti-piracy security business.


Until recently, the "army and "navy" companies had gone their own way discreetly drumming up trade from shipping lines traversing pirate infested waters of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to the Suez Canal.


There is AKE Ltd, with its headquarters in Hereford near the army's Special Air Service (SAS) base, and Neptune Maritime Security in Bournemouth near the navy's Royal Marines headquarters at Portsmouth.


The AKE "army" team, headed by ex-SAS man Andrew Kain, who wrote "SAS Handbook" and has promoted his company in the course of providing an analysis of the pirate problem for logistics major GAC Protective Solutions, with which AKE is affiliated.


"Where weapons are deployed, it is absolutely critical that those employed to operate them have the appropriate skills and experience and are also current in weapon use," said Mr Kain, CEO of AKE, in reference to his own company's skills.


While each cites its expertise from their special forces background, only recently one - Neptune - has "gone negative", criticising flattering references to the "army" security firm.


What makes this an army-navy tiff is that Royal Marines are the Royal Navy's seagoing soldiers ("Admiral's Regiment"), who man the Special Boat Service (SBS) and the army's SAS has long been the leading landside British special forces unit.


In "going negative" Neptune cited a the recent Wikileaks release of US diplomatic cables from the American Tokyo embassy on Somalian piracy, saying that Japan's Self-Defence Force was so weak that cargo firms had employed the "services offered by a British crisis consultant firm".


The diplomatic cable continued: "These services dispatch former Special Air Service members of the British Army to cargo ships only when they cruise off Somalia. Customers expect that since they would also become hostage if the ship were captured, the British Navy would rescue the ship."


This handsome reference to the SAS from the US State Department prompted the Special Boat Service (SBS) veterans' firm to sneer: "Clearly, any shipping company pinning its hopes on a rescue based on past military connections is being naive at best and negligent towards both crew and cargo at worst."


Continuing in the same vein, Neptune director Nigel Booker wrote: "It's interesting that this [SAS] company is dubbed a 'crisis consultant' rather than a security company. Companies like ours provide both active and passive security on-board vessels, be they private or commercial. A crisis consultant would appear to prepare for the inevitable."


The "navy" company statement added: "Neptune Maritime Security was founded by former members of the Special Boat Service, the recognised experts at amphibious counter-terrorism. Operatives are hand picked by the directors and trained in all aspects of maritime law and adhere to our strict rules for the use of force, as well as cultural sensitivity. We pride ourselves on being the best by hiring only the best, and that is reflected in the level of service Neptune Maritime Security delivers.


"Founded by decorated, former members of Her Majesty's elite Special Boat Service (SBS) and supported by a team of international maritime legal experts, Neptune offers the kind of capabilities only the world's most elite commercial maritime security specialist can provide," said the company statement.
(Source:http://www.schednet.com)