AdvanFort Company, approved by the Panama Maritime Authority (PMA) for Panama-flag vessel counter-piracy operations.
“We at AdvanFort are very pleased that the world’s largest flag state has vetted our company and approved our highly-trained operators to protect their ships from piracy attack,” said Captain William H. Watson, president of AdvanFort.
The Resolution (Number 106-26-DGMM) is dated 4 February 2013 and was later signed by the general director, following an extensive review by the PMA’s Technical Committee and Legal Department.
The Republic of Panama is the largest ship registry in the world, with more than 5,700 ships flying the Panamanian flag.
AdvanFort recently emphasized its continuing dedication to quality management by announcing that it is currently undergoing International Organization for Standardization (ISO) 9001 certification.
In addition, this week a number of AdvanFort vessel security officers are participating in a first-ever counter-piracy training program for corporations working in the merchant marine environment.
Offered by the National Maritime Law Enforcement Academy and supported by the Maritime Institute of Technology and Graduate Studies (MITAGS), the NMLEA's efforts take a step forward towards meeting growing international demands for standardizing (and professionalizing) counter-piracy security teams around the world.
The new NMLEA and MITAGS training program teaches those "best practices" that have been identified to date, with a special emphasis on the effective integration of security forces with vessel captains and crews.