We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
This morning (Tuesday 22nd), MDAT-GoG issued an alert that stated a merchant vessel had been approached by a skiff with 8 persons on board, in position 03°5501N / 001°0300W (121 Nm southwest of Accra).
The vessel was able to evade the suspected pirates and any attempted boarding and was later identified as the MT Hafnia Phoenix by Tradewinds. They reported that a ladder had been sighted in the skiff.
MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik – 18th September, 2020) Pirates are threatening to kill the three Russian sailors of Crimean origin who were abducted off the coast of Equatorial Guinea if ransom is not provided, Alexander Molokhov, the head of a working group on international legal issues in Crimea, told Sputnik.
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Source: urdupoint.com
On Sunday 20th, the Joint War Committee reportedly amended its listed risk area within the Gulf of Guinea. Maritime kidnappings have been an ongoing issue for the Gulf of Guinea, particularly in the waters around Nigeria, although other nations have also been affected.
Dryad Global initially reported the new amendments, which are as follows:
a) On the west, from the coast of Togo 6° 06′ 45″ N,
b) high seas point 0° 40′ S, 3° 00′ E
c) and then east to Cape Lopez Peninsula, Gabon 0° 40′ S, 8° 42′ E
Emma Elekwa
Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) Anambra State has solicited the collaboration of the Nigerian Navy towards strengthening the security architecture in the state.
The NSCDC State Commandant, David Bille made the appeal on Tuesday while hosting the newly appointed Commanding Officer Naval Outpost Onitsha (NOPO), Captain Innocent Pius Udoudoh.
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Source: thenationonlineng.net
Security Agencies in Ghana and their counterparts in Togo, Benin and Nigeria have intensified investigations to rescue two South Korean nationals who were kidnapped in Ghanaian waters by pirates.
The victims, a captain and first engineer of the fishing vessel AP703, were kidnapped on the high seas of Ghana on August 28, 2020.
However, 49 other Ghanaian crew members were left after their properties were seized by the pirates.
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Source: modernghana.com
Chaos at sea: Pirates are said to have hijacked the tanker “Aegean II” in the Gulf of Aden, the shipping service “G-Captain” reported at the end of August. Two days later it was reported that men in police uniforms had boarded the “Aegean II”. They took the weapons from the private security forces on board the ship and demanded money from the 20-member ship crew. As a Spanish military ship approached, they disappeared as quickly as they had come. It is still unclear whether the perpetrators were pirates – or even Somali policemen.
It is not only in eastern Africa that the security situation for international merchant shipping is critical. In its “Piracy Report”, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported 162 pirate attacks worldwide and 130 hijacked ships last year. This represents a 20 percent decrease compared to 2018. But in some areas the situation is different, where the danger increases significantly.
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Source: welt.de
Justice. I. Sani of the Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt has convicted the duo of Eimiuhi Gabriel and Godwin Ossai and their company, Ehikioya Associates Nigeria Limited, for operating a vessel, MT Madam Esther in Nigerian territorial waters without due licence and registration from the appropriate authority.
The trio was arraigned on a one-count charge each by the Benin Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes, EFCC. They pleaded guilty to the charge when it was read to them.
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Source: channelstv.com
Maritime security intelligence agencies have reported that the Water Phoenix reefer vessel was boarded Tuesday morning off Nigeria by an unknown number of persons and that two Russian nationals have been kidnapped.
Per Praesidium International, a risk consultancy and maritime security company, the incident happened at 5:50 a.m. UTC Tuesday, approximately 34 nautical miles south of Lagos.
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Source: marinelink.com
MarsecNews: The initial report from MDAT-GoG is as follows:
1. CATEGORY: BOARDING.
2. TIME: 08 Sep 2020 0550UTC.
3. DESCRIPTION: A MV was attacked by an unknown amount of persons. No additional information.
4. POSITION: 05°53N 003°17E (33 Nm southwest of Lagos).
In a year of unabated insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea, one of the most welcomed maritime security-oriented acts of 2019 was Nigeria’s establishment of its Deep Blue Project. The Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, otherwise known as the Deep Blue Project (DBP), aims to comprehensively address insecurity and criminality in Nigeria’s territorial waters and exclusive economic zone. The means of the DBP involve the acquisition of assets, (e.g., unmanned aerial vehicles and fast intervention vessels), development of infrastructure (e.g., new command and control centers), interagency information-sharing, and enhanced training of security services, among other things. According to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), between August 2019 and June 2020, 80 percent of the necessary assets had been delivered and the Command, Control, Computer Communication, and Information Centre (C4i) was officially launched at NIMASA’s base in Kirikiri, Lagos.
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Source: stableseas.org
In an unusual step, MDAT-GoG, the agency which monitors piracy and maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, has issued the following alert to shipping:
Description: Information from military source indicate an armed group from Rivers State, NIGERIA are planning a piracy attack against vessels in area D (especially Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea) since the 1st of September. It is likely the attack will occur at low tide, when the monitoring units are missing. Therefore, you are requested to be on maximum alert, to increase vigilance and surveillance and intensify intelligence both on the water and in the port. Systematically identify and search all suspicious boats coming from or leaving Nigeria. Report any suspicions and take into account any diversion.
Maritime Security News 