Nine sailors abducted off the coast of Benin

A Norway-based shipping company says that nine of its employees have been abducted from one of its vessels while it was moored off the coast of Benin in West Africa.

Shipping firm J.J. Ugland said the cargo ship, the Bonita, was attacked on Saturday by pirates 15km (9 miles) off the coast.

The crew’s identity and nationality have not been made public, but the shipping firm said the rest of the crew moved the vessel into the Port of Cotonou in Benin.

The ship was carrying a cargo of gypsum, a mineral commonly used as fertiliser, which was destined for Benin, the firm said.

While piracy has decreased world wide, West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea remains notorious for abductions by armed groups who usually demand ransoms for the safe return of victims.

Several abductions have been reported in the region in recent months, including eight crew members taken from a German-owned vessel off Cameroon in August, and 10 Turkish sailors off the coast of Nigeria in July.

Source: bbc.com

Multinational maritime exercise begins in Nigerian waters

by Lawal Sherifat

A five-day combined naval exercise has been flagged off in Nigerian waters. The maritime exercise, codenamed: “Grand African Nemo (Navy exercise for maritime operations) involves the participation of four Nigerian Navy ships and a helicopter.

The Exercise, being coordinated by the Nigerian Navy, according to a statement, Wednesday, by the naval spokesman, Commodore Sueman Dahun,” is aimed at supporting the efforts of regional navies to counter criminal activities in the maritime domain through different operational modes of planned exercises.”

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Source: vanguardngr.com

NASS petitioned over secure anchorage area

A group pushing for security of shipping services in the country has petitioned the National Assembly over the pronouncement by the Nigerian Ports Authority, (NPA), instructing shipping operators to stop paying for personalised security services offered in the Secured Ancourage Area, (SAA) operated by the Nigerian Navy in collaboration with private firm, Ocean Marine Solutions (OMS) Limited.

The group, under the aegis of “Association of Professionals for Safety in Shipping in Nigeria,” APOSSIN, noted that the directive was not only ill-advised but also will be counter-productive, stressing that NPA does not have the authority to make such pronouncement on an arrangement by another agency of government to deliver on its mandate. The SAA is outside the port limits and hence not under the administrative control of the NPA. Security of the nation’s maritime domain statutorily rests on the Nigerian Navy. NPA by the pronouncement is interfering with the functions of the Nigerian Navy, a move that must be condemned by all well-meaning Nigerians.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

Navy To Acquire More Operational Vessels To Curb Oil Theft – CoNS

By Kauthar Anumba-Khaleel and Adebiyi Adedapo

The Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibot-Ete Ekwe Ibas said that for incidences of oil theft, sea piracy and pipeline vandalism to be effectively tackled, the Nigerian Navy would need additional operational vessels.

Ibas said this during a budget defence with the House of Representatives committee on navy.

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Source: leadership.ng

OMSL: SAA does not constitute a threat to national security

Ocean Marine Solution Limited (OMSL) has faulted the claim by the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA) that the Secure Anchorage Area (SSA) manned by it, in collaboration with the Nigerian Navy, constituted a threat to national security.

A Secure Anchorage Area is an area outside the Lagos port that the Nigerian Navy, together with OMSL, has defined as a secure place where vessels can anchor safely from the threat of pirate attacks.

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Source: nationalaccordnewspaper.com

Navy wants special tribunal for oil thieves

By Precious Igbonwelundu

Challenged by the delays in the criminal justice system, the Nigerian Navy (NN) has appealed to the government to consider establishing a special tribunal for speedy trial of suspected oil thieves.

Flag Officer Commanding (FOC) Western Naval Command (WNC) Rear Admiral Oladele Daji stated this during interview with reporters at the 81 Division’s training day for Exercise Crocodile Smile IV held at the Ikeja Cantonment, Lagos.

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Source: thenationonlineng.net

West Africa: the center of maritime piracy, armed robbery and kidnap

Jim Wilson

Nearly all maritime kidnappings and hostage-takings in the nine months to the end of September this year took place in or near the Gulf of Guinea, said global maritime piracy watchdog the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

New data from the IMB shows that worldwide there have been 70 actual kidnappings of seafarers and 49 hostage-takings year to date. The West African country of Guinea alone saw 23 hostage-takings, Nigeria a further 12 and the West African country of Togo an additional seven. Cameroon and Nigeria were hot spots for kidnapping, too.

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Source: freightwaves.com

Security expert seeks collaboration among littoral states

By Shulammite ‘Foyeku

Former President, Maritime Security Providers Association of Nigeria (MASPAN), Captain George Alily (rtd), has called for increased collaboration in information sharing among littoral states in the country to support the maritime security architecture being put in place by the government to secure the nation’s waterways against pirates’ attacks.

Speaking against the backdrop of the latest global piracy report released by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) for the third quarter of 2019, which showed a reduction in cases of pirates attack in the country, Alily said the development is an indication that the Government was stepping up its efforts at improving maritime security.

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Source: shipsandports.com.ng

NSCDC arrests 23 suspected oil thieves in Rivers

Chukwudi Akasike

The Rivers State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps has arrested 23 suspected oil thieves and seized a vessel and 20 vehicles used in conveying stolen petroleum products.

The suspects, according to the state NSCDC Commandant, Mr Muktar Lawal, were apprehended in various parts of the state.

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Source: punchng.com

Trawler Fined $1 Million in Ghana

A trawler has been apprehended in Ghanaian waters having caught at least 13.9 tonnes of small pelagic fish in a single day, using illegal nets.

The small-mesh nets found on board – which are illegal for an industrial trawler – indicate that the vessel was specifically targeting small pelagics. Analysis of the catch also showed that a significant proportion were undersized juveniles.

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Source: maritime-executive.com