Maritime trials and tribulations

Written by Africa Defense Forum

The guilty verdict handed down in a Sao Tome and Principe courtroom echoed across the globe.

A Chilean captain and two Spanish crew members of the notorious fishing vessel the Thunder were sentenced to two to three years in prison and fined a total of $15 million.

For the tiny Gulf of Guinea island that relies heavily on the sea economy, it felt like a rare win in a losing battle against illegal fishing.

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Source: defenceweb.co.za

Navy seeks more effective collaboration between agencies to tackle crime in Rivers

By Desmond Ejibas

Bonny – The Nigerian Navy has called for more effective collaboration between security agencies and the people to tackle crime in Rivers.

The navy decried the upsurge in criminality across various communities and on waterways, express optimisms that it would be successful, if the residents were fully involved. Capt. Kolawole Oguntuga, the Commanding Officer, Forward Operating Base, Bonny, made the call on Thursday at the inauguration of a free medical outreach on Thursday in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers.

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Source: sundiatapost.com

‘Insecurity On Nigerian Waters Worsen’

By YUSUF BABALOLA

The federal government has lamented that insecurity on the nation’s maritime domain has deteriorated assuring that it is determined to stamp out all forms of insecurity such as piracy, sea robbery, kidnapping for ransom and oil theft, among others within the nation’s maritime domain.

The government said by January 2020, insecurity and maritime crime would be a thing of the past as it would begin a phased implementation of its new maritime security architecture.

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Source: leadership.ng

FG To Begin Deployment Of Anti-Piracy Equipment In June

By Tola Adenubi

THE Federal Government will begin the deployment of anti-piracy equipment in the nation’s Maritime sector by June 2019.

Disclosing this on Tuesday in Lagos during a stakeholders meeting tagged ‘Regulating The Maritime Industry For a Better Nigeria’, the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi revealed that the situation as regards insecurity in the nation’s maritime sector is very bad as of now.

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Source: tribuneonlineng.com

Nigeria Approves New Crude Oil Export Terminal In Niger Delta

By Tsvetana Paraskova

Nigeria’s government has authorized a local oil company to operate a new floating crude oil export terminal off the coast of the Rivers state in the oil-rich but still troubled Niger Delta.

Belemaoil Producing Ltd has been allowed to moor a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit and use it as a crude oil export terminal, according to a letter signed by the Director of Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mordecai Ladan, Nigerian media report.

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Source: oilprice.com

Piracy and pilfering at sea

By LLOYD GREEN

From Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean to Latin America and the Caribbean, the developing world is paying a price for maritime piracy and pilfering. Southeast Asia was home to two-fifths of the world’s pirate attacks between 1995 and 2013, while the waters off Africa remain a watery version of the Wild West.

To put things into perspective, Somali pirates cost East Africa more than US$24 billion between 2010 and 2017, the Horn of Africa remains a pirate hotspot, and West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea has witnessed an explosion in hostage-takings and kidnappings.

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Source: asiatimes.com

Nigeria: Army Destroys 93 Illegal Refineries, Arrest 29 Suspects

By Kingsley Nwezeh

Abuja — As part of its campaign to contain sea piracy and oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region, the Nigerian Army said yesterday it destroyed 93 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta region.

In the course of its anti-illegal and sea piracy operations, 29 sea robbers and illegal oil bunkerers were also arrested while 80 trucks were detained.

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Source: allafrica.com

Only international action will stop increase in piracy: BIMCO

A fresh annual report from the International Maritime Bureau shows that attacks in West Africa helped push piracy numbers up in 2018. In terms of military and law enforcement, an international operation is not complicated, so what is needed above all is the will to act.

According to the bureau’s report, there were 201 incidents in total* reported to the bureau last year. That is a rise from 180 incidents in 2017 and from 191 in 2016. Of this, 48 incidents took place in Nigeria, up from 33 in 2017 and 36 incidents in 2016.

The report also showed that the region saw a considerable spike in violence in the last quarter of the year, with 40 kidnappings in the waters off Nigeria alone. In West Africa, there appears to be challenges with underreporting, which is estimated at as much as 40%, the report says.

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Source: hellenicshippingnews.com

Maritime Security News: It’s worth noting that the IMB only collates reports submitted to them directly by CSOs and Masters. To gain a full picture of maritime crime, it is necessary to collate reports from all agencies.

NIMASA partners USA, UK on ship registry

The Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, said the agency is partnering with foreign ship registry to reposition the Nigerian Ship Registry (NSR).

Peterside disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.

“We are also reforming the Nigeria Ship Registration Office. For a very long time the Nigeria ship registry has not been very competitive, so we are developing a lot of partnerships.”

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Source: thenewsnigeria.com.ng

Pirates Demand $1m To Free Five Indian Sailors

The Nigerian pirates who took five Indian seafarers hostage last month have demanded $1 million to release them. They made a ransom call to one of the victim’s families in Haryana’s Jind district three days ago.

“At first I thought they said $1,000 and thought we could manage the amount and get them released. But one of the pirates repeated his demand as $1 million,” Bharat Deshwal, cousin of Ankit Hooda, one of the abducted seamen, told TOI over phone from Rohtak.

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Source: thetidenewsonline.com