There is an interesting new wrinkle in the Top Cat Marine Security situation. On January 5th, the BBC reported that the fifty million dollar contract signed with the Transitional Government of Somalia was in a "mobilisation phase." I checked with domestic sources and was told that, no, Top Cat's  cease and desist order was still in places, and no, they weren't in a "mobilisation phase" on the Somalia contract. So I blogged this as a mistake on the part of the BBC.

Well. We get to Friday the 13th, and what I hear from a military intelligence source is that a company that builds boats identical to Top Cat's seems to have set up shop in Panama -- home of the impenetrable corporate veil! Could this be Top Cat Marine Security under a new name, circumventing a cease and desist order from the US Department of State?!? It looks like the BBC may not have been so far off base.

Stay tuned as the situation develops!

Photo: Google Earth's view of Panama City.