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PCA Maritime...

Today’s world is increasingly unstable and unpredictable, with a growing divide between those that have and those that don’t. This volatility undermines the basis for certainty and probability, which incubates the conditions for organised crime and terrorism to flourish and exploit opportunities.

With more than 80% of trade moving by sea, the commercial shipping industry and their freedom of navigation constitutes the key element of this critical global infrastructure and is fundamental to the world’s economy. One third of all gas and oil is extracted from platforms at sea making their security also crucial to the global economic stability. The thousands of ports and terminals along our coastlines are vital to the supply chain, feeding the demands of an inexorably growing population.

PETER COOK

Peter Cook is a well-respected maritime security professional with extensive knowledge and a founding director of PCA Maritime Ltd. 

Peter was a student at the London Nautical School where the foundations of his understanding of the Merchant Navy and shipping industry were laid. He then served for 24-years as an officer in the Royal Marines where for more than 8 years he was involved in maritime security related roles from maritime counter terrorism, to formulating policy, training and operational procedures for the Royal Navy’s Ship Protection in port, Boarding Team Operations and designing counter piracy procedures for warship support vessels in the South China Sea in 1997. 

Peter Cook has received much acclaim for founding and being the CEO of the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI). He led the international private maritime security industry through a period of doubt and general scepticism about the use of private armed guards on ships off the coast of Somalia to being respected with a 100% record of success protecting seafarers from pirates. SAMI was at the forefront and drove the introduction of the international standard for armed guards on ships and a model set of Rules for the Use of Force they used. 

Peter represented the private maritime security industry at several international forums including the International Maritime Organisation, International Contact Group for Piracy off the Coast of Somalia and the European Commission’s Stakeholders Advisory Group for Maritime Security demonstrating a comprehensive knowledge of this complex subject and displaying considerable diplomatic skills by earning respect for the industry from across the industry.

In 2016, he was co-founder of PCA Maritime Ltd and in 2018, he graduated from City, University of London with a Master of Science degree in Maritime Operations and Management, with Distinction.

In 2018, he emigrated to Melbourne, Australia where he established the subsidiary consultancy company PCA Maritime (Australia).

Peter is a Visiting Lecturer at City, University of London, Dalian Maritime University, China and at the Australian National Centre for Ocean Resources and Security (ANCORS) at the University of Wollongong, Australia. He is also a co-founder and the Indo-Pacific Editor for the International Journal for Maritime Crime and Security (IJMCS), and comments on maritime security situations for major maritime media platforms. 

He is an Associate Member of the Corbett Centre for Maritime Policy Studies, an Honorary Fellow at ANCORS and a Fellow at the Royal Geographical Society.

CHRIS ASHCROFT

Chris Ashcroft is a widely acknowledged expert in maritime security and a founding director of PCA Maritime Ltd.

Chris has spent his working life in the international maritime security business. For the last 12 years has worked both as a consultant and as a director at the highest levels of maritime risk assessment and mitigation, most recently at the Security Association for the Maritime Industry (SAMI). As SAMI’s Chief Operations Officer he had particular responsibility for governance, member liaison, and oversight of the Industry Steering Group. Chris was also a founding director of Independent Maritime Security Associates Ltd (IMSA), a company that focussed on maritime security training, provision of maritime security officers, and all aspects of unarmed maritime security. IMSA was a founding member of SAMI, and Chris was elected to its inaugural Industry Steering Group.

Prior to that, key posts included Operations Director and then Technical Director at Maritime and Underwater Security Consultants for 4 years, covering the development of Vessel Shield and anti-piracy solutions for the Indian Ocean and subsequently security planning for survey projects in the North Arabian Gulf. Before MUSC he worked as experiment director in a UK defence consortium specialising in underwater experimentation, and for a Norwegian Defence contractor on unmanned underwater vehicle projects. He has also worked as the lead Maritime Security Adviser to the Presidential Implementation Committee on Maritime Safety and Security, under the Minister for Transport in Nigeria.

Chris began his career in the Royal Navy as a Warfare Officer and has commanded surface warships and served at managerial level in the Ministry of Defence in Whitehall.

He is a Member of The Society for Underwater Technology and the Minewarfare & Clearance Diving Officers’ Association.
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