Call grows to flag Mexico’s Gulf as high-risk

By Rebecca Conan

Mexico’s Campeche sound should be declared a high-risk area by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) amid rising numbers of armed attacks on oil and natural gas vessels and platforms, maritime experts say.

“One of the main reasons for the increase in these attacks is weak ocean governance and the non-existence of maritime security policy,” Adriana Avila, academic at the World Maritime University, said in presenting her research today on the resurgence of organized crime in the Gulf of Mexico.

Avila, with Dimitrios Dalaklis, documented 14 cases of armed attacks against vessels or marine platforms during the first four months of 2020, with just three of those reported to international maritime agencies.

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Source: argusmedia.com