Akula Yachts prides itself on exclusively employing highly motivated Maritime Security Officers trained to react in hostile situations. Withstanding that, they are professional, level headed consultants with a keen understanding of the commercial implications in the Superyacht industry. The Yacht Protection Team (YPT) will be led by an experienced Team Leader (TL) who will be the link between the Master, the YPT and Akula Yachts Operations.
The YPT also recognise their place whilst embarked. They recognise the chain of command and respect the rights attained by Yacht Masters and Officers. They are onboard to advise and protect and they understand the Masters word is final.
We recruit from two pools of ex-military anti-piracy specialists:
This choice enables Akula Yachts to deploy longstanding British military experience in the provision of armed maritime operations to ensure the highest standard of professionalism and more effective relationship management between the YPT and Masters and Company Security Officers.
Some in the industry claim to use a close network of “personal” contacts that they deploy on Yachts. As a yacht manager you may be hedging large liabilities on the basis of an informal network. Whilst Akula Yachts believes in personal recommendations, we also believe in an audited paper trail of training, qualifications and due diligence paperwork, proving that our Maritime Security Officers have:
Only on the basis of this evidence and a personal recommendation do we invite candidates to interview. At Interview the key criteria we select for are;
Note: All Team Leaders are qualified to deliver and certify the new STCW Security training required by all seafarers as from the 1st July 2015. Both the ‘Proficiency in Security Awareness’ (PSA) and ‘Proficiency in Dedicated Security Duties’ (PDSD) are certified by the MCA and accepted by all Flag States as meeting the requirement. This training can be carried out either prior to or during the transit.