Dryads Thoughts
All quiet on the Eastern front – or just an operational pause?
The SW monsoon has predictably resulted in a cessation in Somali piracy in open ocean areas since its onset in June. As is the norm for this time of year, wind and sea conditions prevent pirate skiffs from being launched to attack and board merchant vessels in all but sheltered areas, such as the Gulf » Continue reading
Underwriters welcome ISO for PMSC’s but will it be enough?
So far, 2012 has been a far less successful year for the Somali pirates with only 15 vessels having been hijacked so far and the majority of those were small fishing vessels or dhows. There is no one single reason for this reduction, rather the effect of multiple factors; intervention by military forces, more widespread » Continue reading
Security challenges to influence plans for next Race
Dryad’s Director of Intelligence, Ian Millen, and Nikki Carpenter, Head of Marketing & Communications joined the 9,000 other revelers in Galway to mark the end of the 2011/12 Volvo Ocean Race. The City, second time host to the finale of this prestigious event, had all the excitement of a major festival with added Irish charm. » Continue reading
World’s media join us for the launch of new Operations Centre
The 16th of February was a great day in the history of the company. The press attendance was just staggering (thank you all for coming!) but that’s not only why it was great. The 16th of February marked the operations room and the launch of our custom built Action Information Organisation (AIO) officially becoming fully » Continue reading
It’s been a busy summer here at Dryad whilst the Somalis were weather bound. The South West Monsoon has now all but withdrawn; the whole Indian Ocean is open for business and we are ready to come out fighting with a new ops room to support our efforts. This is our 4th move since operations » Continue reading
Guidance on the use of armed private security contractors
In the last 5 weeks we have been seeing the fruit of a year of behind-the-scenes work and a gradual shift in attitude. Historically, every industry body has been strongly against the use of armed security contractors for a number of reasons to do with increase rather than reduction in risk from bringing people with » Continue reading