London: In a fascinating, in depth interview with one of the world’s most experienced maritime security professionals our sister site Maritime CEO was told that as soon as the naval presence in the Middle East wanes, piracy will return in force.
Will McManus, 47, is the ceo of REDfour Security Group. He served in the British armed forces and the French Foreign Legion and has worked in hostile environments for the past 27 years from Iraq to Afghanistan, both in a military and civilian role, running land based and amphibious operations worldwide. He started REDfour in 2004, becoming one of the first companies to embrace maritime security in 2007. REDfour now has offices in London, Singapore and Sri Lanka.
When REDfour started out in the Gulf region there was just three warships. Nowadays, the naval presence has seen piracy situation off Somalia drop off dramatically.
The real threat to shipping, McManus said, is that everyone will start to think the risk has passed, and that is “simply not the case”, he stressed.
“If naval operations in the region are being reduced or some circumstances, pulled completely, then I will expect to see the pirates taking advantage of that and will probably start their piracy once again,” said the man who spent eight months in Puntland.
For the full interview click HERE. [15/05/13]
