We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
By Kingsley Nwezeh in Abuja
Nigeria Navy has said it recovered N75 billion worth of stolen petroleum products in five years. The products recovered between 2015 and 2019 include crude oil, diesel and petrol.
It said a total of 2,287 illegal refineries were discovered and destroyed within the same period.
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Source: thisdaylive.com
The product tanker Tosna Star was boarded and robbed by armed pirates off the port of Port-au-Prince, Haiti last Sunday, according to one of her crewmembers.
In an account posted on Facebook, crewmember Claudio Omar Benitez said that the Argentine crew of the Tosna Star has been stuck on board for months due to the novel coronavirus, unable to return to their homes. Their ship is currently at the anchorage off Port-au-Prince, and on Sunday, a group of armed Haitians boarded the tanker by the stern.
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Source: maritime-executive.com
By Eromosele Abiodun
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), has restated its commitment to collaboration among relevant agencies and stakeholders for the security of the country’s maritime domain.
The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Bashir Jamoh, stated this in Lagos during the official handover of pirates arrested by the Nigerian Navy for prosecution.
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Source: thisdaylive.com
SafeSeas is pleased to announce the first report resulting from collaboration with Stable Seas: What we know about Piracy
Authored by Lydelle Joubert, the report draws on desk-based research conducted between June 2019 and March 2020. It provides a systematic overview of data, answering the questions:
To download the report, please click here.
MarsecNews: This is a good overall read and covers the topic very well. Full marks to Lydelle and the team.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 21st May, 2020) Pirates have attacked a cargo vessel sailing under the Cypriot flag in the Gulf of Guinea near the Nigerian southern state of Bayelsa, Dryad Global company specializing in maritime security said on Wednesday.
All crew members of the ESL AUSTRALIA vessel managed to hide in a specially equipped room, according to the company.
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Source: urdupoint.com
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has restated its commitment to collaborate with relevant agencies and stakeholders for the security of the country’s maritime domain.
Director-General of the agency, Bashir Jamoh, stated this in Lagos during the official handover of pirates arrested by the Nigerian Navy for prosecution.
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Source: shipsandports.com.ng
By Sulaimon Salau
Rising activities of pirates in the Gulf of Guinea is posing serious threats to offshore oil storage model currently adopted by oil multinationals in the wake of supply glut.
This is even as speculations are rife that the coronavirus pandemic may lead to a spike in tanker vessel attacks and possible kidnappings.
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Source: guardian.ng
Marsec News: I’m aware of anecdotal reports from friends in the oil and gas industry in the region of pirates buzzing facilities and oil platforms in the region. They happen frequently and are rarely reported. Partly, this is because the pirates are chased off by patrol boats without attacking and partly because incidents continue to be under reported in the Gulf of Guinea. If tankers are used as storage platforms in the region, then they will almost certainly be targeted by kidnap and ransom gangs looking for easy targets.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 15th May, 2020) No demands have yet been heard from pirates that are believed to have kidnapped several Russian nationals in the Gulf of Guinea, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said on Thursday.
“Until now, the pirates have not got in touch and have not put forward any requirements. The Russian embassy in Cameroon is actively working with the authorities of Equatorial Guinea and the shipowner company to help establish the whereabouts of the abducted Russian citizens and secure their speedy release.
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Source: urdupoint.com
Two crewmembers have been kidnapped from a general cargo vessel off Equatorial Guinea in the Gulf of Guinea, according to security company Dryad Global.
The incident occurred two nautical miles from Malabo on May 9. The pirates reportedly used ladders to board the Rio Mitong from a speedboat. A Russian and a Ukrainian are believed to have been kidnapped.
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Source: maritime-executive.com
For Sudeep Choudhury, work on merchant ships promised adventure and a better life.
But a voyage on an oil tanker in West Africa, in dangerous seas far from home, would turn the young graduate’s life upside down.
His fate would come to depend on a band of drug-fuelled jungle pirates – and the whims of a mysterious figure called The King.
The MT Apecus dropped anchor off Nigeria’s Bonny Island shortly after sunrise. Sudeep Choudhury was at the end of a draining shift on deck. Looking towards land, he could make out dozens of other ships. On the shoreline beyond them, a column of white oil storage tanks rose out of the ground like giants.
He had breakfast and then made two phone calls. One to his parents – he knew they worried about him, their only child – and one to his fiancee, Bhagyashree. He told her that everything was going to plan and that he would call her again later that day. He then clambered into bed for a sleep.
It was 19 April, 2019. The small, ageing oil tanker and its crew of 15 had spent two days sailing south from the port of Lagos to the Niger Delta, where oil was discovered in the 1950s by Dutch and British businessmen seeking a swift fortune. Although he knew that vicious pirates roamed the labyrinthine wetlands and mangroves of the delta, Sudeep felt safe that tropical South Atlantic morning. Nigerian navy boats were patrolling and the Apecus was moored just outside Bonny, seven nautical miles from land, waiting for permission to enter port.
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Source: bbc.co.uk
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