Dead in the Water: Murder and Fraud in the World's Most Secretive Industry

by Matthew Campbell

The moment the Brillante’s Ship Security Reporting System (SSRS) was activated, it automatically generated messages that were delivered to various government and private-sector organizations. The alerts included the vessel’s name, position, speed, and status: “MV Brillante Virtuoso, IMO 9014822, Liberian flag at posn 1229N 04445E crse 140, 0.5 kts.” Within seconds, one such message arrived at the office of United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, or UKMTO, in Dubai. To this day, the UK retains an outsize role in marine affairs, a legacy of when the Royal Navy patrolled an empire on which the sun never set. Even as Britain’s influence waned after the Second World War, much of the legal and administrative machinery of modern shipping remained in British hands. In the 2000s, with piracy escalating into a severe problem, the UKMTO was made responsible for connecting military forces with the merchant ships they were supposed to protect, keeping everyone communicating during a crisis.