North Carolina Security Firm in Anti-Piracy Meetings in London

North Carolina-based private security contractor Blackwater Worldwide is meeting with shipping and insurance companies this week to describe what the company can do to protect vessels traveling through the volatile Gulf of Aden.

Blackwater is holding meetings in London from Tuesday to Thursday. Company spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the meeting is being held because at least 70 companies have contacted Blackwater about protection services. However, the Moyock-based firm doesn’t have any contracts yet.

Somali pirates have increasingly targeted vessels traveling in the Gulf of Aden, demanding ransom for the ships’ release. Recently, pirates targeted a huge Saudi supertanker loaded with $100 million worth of crude oil, as well as a Ukrainian ship loaded with tanks and other weapons.

The 20,000 ships that pass through the Gulf of Aden each year travel to and from the Suez Canal. The vessels can’t avoid the 1,800 miles of Somali coastline unless they make the costly journey around the entire continent of Africa.

Erik Prince, a former Navy SEAL and founder of Blackwater, is a Holland, Mich., native whose family fortune was made in the auto parts industry. His sister, Betsy DeVos, a former chairwoman of the Michigan GOP, is married to Dick DeVos, a Republican and Amway Corp. heir who unsuccessfully ran for governor in 2006.

Blackwater began offering anti-piracy services in October, joining a number of other security firms in talks for business there. The company is offering to use a 183-foot escort ship and armed crew.