Set in 2008, Hostile Seas is a personal account of life on board Canadian naval ship HMCS Ville de Québec as the crew attempts to escort pirate-menaced cargo ships carrying World Food Programme aid to Mogadishu.

Set during a period of dramatically escalating piracy, Hostile Seas is a personal account of a mission on board a naval warship in the waters off Somalia. In late 2008, piracy around the Horn of Africa escalated dramatically, threatening the passage of international merchant ships through a critical waterway. Not only were ships carrying goods to North America and Europe affected, but also vessels entrusted with food aid for a Somali population suffering the effects of prolonged drought and civil war. In response, the Canadian government redirected naval frigate HMCS Ville de Québec from the Mediterranean Sea to Somali waters to escort pirate-menaced vessels carrying World Food Programme aid to Mogadishu. Told from the perspective of a ship’s officer, Hostile Seas is a personal account of life on board a deployed navy ship that explores the tension between military imperatives and individual needs as a succession of hijackings brings into focus the reality of Somali piracy.

In 1986, the Cold War was winding down, yet under the seas the game of cat and mouse between Soviet and American submarines continued unabated. Off the coast of North Carolina, an aging Soviet ballistic missile submarine suffered a catastrophe accident and came within moments of melting down. Had it exploded, the entire East Coast of the U.S. would have been blanketed in radioactive fallout. The death toll would have made Chernobyl seem like a traffic accident. This is the gripping, true story of 60 young Soviet men who fought--and died--to save our lives. Photo insert. Foreward by Tom Clancy. Martin's Press.

This authoritative work forms a comprehensive examination of the legal and historical context of marine insurance, providing a detailed overview of the events and factors leading to its codification in the Marine Insurance Act 1906. It investigates the development of the legal principles and case law that underpin the Act to reveal how successful this codification truly was, and to demonstrate how these historical precedents remain relevant to marine insurance law to this day.

Fascinating study revealing Shakespeare's career-long engagement with the sea and his frequent use of maritime imagery.