Action: Yemen's Navy offers protection for price

The Yemeni armed forces are offering commercial shipping military protection in the Gulf of Aden brokered through a British firm, Gulf of Aden Group Transits. Rates run to US $55,000/day in return for "up to 10 warships ... placed at the company's disposal, with armed soldiers deployed to board private ships as escorts, with land-based military 'right behind us if we need them.'" The CEO of this company says at least one merchant per day is paying for this protection. (The Australian, 1/6/09)