How much is safe transit worth?

An article in Stars and Stripes provides some insights into the fees being charged by private security contractors now offering escort boats and onboard armed parties to ward off pirate attacks.

Jim Jorrie, CEO of Espada Logistics and Security-MENA, a San Antonio-based company, is reported as citing the following for such services:
- $54,000 for a three-day escort through the Gulf of Aden; and
- $74,000 for a four-day protection that covers East Africa and the Horn of Africa down to the Seychelle Islands or Mombasa, Kenya.

A variation on this arrangement is reported in the same article as the contracting out of the services of the newly formed and still developing Yemeni Coast Guard to provide merchant vessels escort as they transit the Gulf of Aden.  This service is handled by Muse Professional Group Inc., headquartered in Ukraine.  The article reports that Muse charges private companies $25,000 for escort through the Gulf of Aden.

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