In Season 1, we talked about “How to hijack a ship”, and earlier in this season, we talked about “How to deliver a ransom”. Today, we’re following on from these two episodes to discuss “How to close a shipping lane” with three fantastic guests.
Firstly, we have Daniel Giordanio. Daniel is the Senior Threat Intelligence Manager at shipping giant AP Moller Maersk, where he focuses on assessing and mitigating threats to the company’s global operations and workforce. Prior to Maersk, Daniel had a fifteen-year career in the United States Federal Bureau of Investigation, with his final position as the FBI’s Assistant Legal Attaché for Intelligence at the US Embassy in Copenhagen. His focus was on ensuring cross-collaborative intelligence sharing on a wide range of threats with Nordic intelligence and security partners. Daniel worked a multitude of threats with the FBI in the United States, and was instrumental in the identification and eventual capture of Rafael Caro Quintero, an FBI Top Ten Most Wanted Fugitive, and leader of the Sinaloa Cartel in Mexico. In Washington, DC, he worked on a high-profile task force to address espionage concerns across the US Intelligence Community, and did a joint-duty assignment at the US Central Intelligence Agency, developing collaborative cross-agency intelligence efforts to counter threats to US national security.
Joining Daniel, we also have Encyclopedia Geopolitica’s own Anthony Clay, as well as one of this show’s cohosts, Cormac McGarry.
Anthony Clay is a retired US Navy Surface Warfare Officer where he specialised in amphibious warfare and expeditionary operations. He is currently a Senior Strategic Planner in the Department of Defense where he has worked on diverse issues, with focuses on Logistics, Nuclear Weapons, and Space Warfare.
Cormac Mc Garry is the Director for Maritime Security at Control Risks, a global specialist risk management consultancy. He helps a range of clients, from ship owners and manufacturers to insurers and law firms, understand risk in the maritime word. He also teaches on the topic as an Adjunct Professor at Sciences Po Paris and has previously worked in East Africa, the Irish Defence Forces and the National Maritime College of Ireland.
Listen on Apple Podcasts / Spotify by RSS feed, on Youtube, or right here:
How to Close a Shipping Lane – How to get on a Watchlist
If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice. Please also consider supporting our work via a Patreon subscription (getting you access to early releases and other perks), or by tipping us on Ko-fi. While the topics we discuss here are often shrouded in secrecy and security classifications, we really hope you’ll tell your friends about us!
Books and media mentioned during the episode, and suggestions for further research on this topic:
- Understanding Maritime Security (Christian Bueger & Timothy Edmunds)
- The Pirates of Somalia: Inside Their Hidden World (Jay Bahadur)
- Dangerous Waters: Modern Piracy and Terror on the High Seas (John S. Burnett)
Additional reading suggestions can be found on our 2025 geopolitical reading list.
Purchases made using the links in this article earn referrals for Encyclopedia Geopolitica. As an independent publication, our writers are volunteers from within the professional geopolitical intelligence community, and referrals like this support future articles.
The host:
Lewis Sage-Passant is a researcher in the field of intelligence and espionage, and a former British Military Intelligence Officer. Lewis holds a PhD from Loughborough University in intelligence studies, and is an adjunct professor in intelligence at Sciences Po Paris. He has extensive experience working and living in the Middle East and Asia Pacific regions in a variety of geopolitical analysis and intelligence roles, supporting the energy industry, the financial sector, leading technology firms, and the pharmaceuticals sector. He has appeared in numerous media outlets, including the BBC, France24, CNBC, Harvard Business Review, The New Arab, El Mundo, GQ, and others, discussing intelligence, geopolitics, and security topics.
The production team:
Producer: Edwin Tran
Additional credit goes to several unnamed members of the Encyclopedia Geopolitica team, as well as our colleagues in the intelligence and security community who helped to make this podcast possible.
If you liked this episode, don’t forget to subscribe on your podcast platform of choice. Please also consider supporting our work via a Patreon subscription (getting you access to early releases and other perks), or by tipping us on Ko-fi. While the topics we discuss here are often shrouded in secrecy and security classifications, we really hope you’ll tell your friends about us!
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