Somalia to announce plans for first oil licensing round in December

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) – Somalia will announce plans in December for its first ever oil and gas licensing round, its oil minister said on Tuesday, as the frontier market looks to attract new investment after decades of civil strife.

At least three mortar bombs were fired last month at Mogadishu’s international airport, the latest attack in a wave of violence that has afflicted the Horn of Africa nation since clan warlords overthrew a dictator in 1991.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: reuters.com

Piracy: Community Chairman Wants Deployment Of Gunboats

Worried by the unabated sea pirate attacks which have resulted in constant fears and loss of several lives on the waterways, Chairman of the Community Development Committee of Bille Kingdom, Dr Somieari Isaac, has pleaded with the government to deploy the Navy to station in the New Calabar and Sombriero Rivers to check criminality on the waterways.

Making the appeal in a chat with The Tide, last Monday, in Port Harcourt, the CDC Chairman noted that several months after the Governor of the state, Nyesom Wike, and the Chairman of DELGA, Dr Tony Philmoore, launched the ‘Operation Sting’ security outfit, the community is yet to see a single gunboat patrolling the waterways.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: thetidenewsonline.com

3 feared dead in Rivers sea pirate attack

Victor Edozie

Three persons are feared dead when gunmen suspected to be sea pirates in the early hours of Saturday attacked three passengers boats en-route Port Harcourt from Billie in Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State.

Eyewitness account had it that the gunmen, who attacked the boats separately along the route, also carted away properties belonging to passengers.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: dailytrust.com.ng

Face-to-face with ruthless pirates who rule high seas

Ishaq Jumbe

In 2010, the Indian Ocean waters were a no go zone for merchant ships. Pirates ruled the waves and often, ships plying the lucrative and historic trade route would find themselves in the wrong hands.

But as the lawlessness went on, one group of pirates found themselves on the wrong end of the gun barrel one night in September 2012. On this day, their seawater-beaten Kalashnikovs met their match and by the time dawn broke, most of them lay dead, with others scattered in the high seas.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: standardmedia.co.ke

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

7 soldiers wounded in separate encounters with suspected Abu Sayyaf members in Sulu

Seven soldiers were wounded following separate clashes with suspected Abu Sayyaf men in Patikul, Sulu on Wednesday, a regional military spokesperson said Thursday.

According to Armed Forces Western Mindanao Command’s Major Arvin Encinas, the first encounter lasted for 50 minutes when operating troops of the 1st Scout Ranger Battalion engaged the local terrorists at Sitio Kan Mindang in Barangay Pangdanon.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: gmanetwork.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.”

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: vanguardngr.com

Mindef committed to Sabah, Sarawak security: Mat Sabu

Kuala Lumpur: The Ministry of Defence is committed to strengthening security in Sabah and Sarawak to curb external threats including transborder kidnapping, said its Minister Mohamad Sabu.

He said said the territorial sovereignty, security and prosperity of the people are a priority of the government. “Generally, the security of Sabah and Sarawak at present is regulated by operations by the military services namely the army, the Royal Malaysian Navy and the Royal Malaysian Air Force,” Mohamad was quoted as saying by defence news website airtimes.my on Wednesday.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: dailyexpress.com.my

Iranian Naval Flotilla Begins Overseas Mission

Iranian Navy ships in Velayat-90 military exercise, by Mohammad Sadegh Heydari via Wikipedia

TEHRAN (Tasnim) – The Iranian Navy’s 64th flotilla departed the country’s southern coast on Tuesday for a mission in international waters.

The Iranian “intelligence-combat” flotilla includes a destroyer, dubbed Alvand, and the Bandar Abbas logistical warship.

The flotilla set sail for the high seas immediately after the return of the 63rd naval flotilla, which traveled 15,000 nautical miles in international waters during a 100-day mission.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: tasnimnews.com

EU-funded exercise to boost maritime security cooperation

Through the MASE programme funded by the European Union, the Indian Ocean Commission organised the first MASE POLMAR 2019 wide-ranging regional exercise from 16 to 20 October in Madagascar.

The event brought together representatives of the MASE agreements’ signatories countries: Comoros, Djibouti, France, Reunion Island, Madagascar, Mauritius, Seychelles and Somalia as an observer, International liaison officers and watch-standers from the Regional Maritime Information Fusion Centre and the Regional Coordination of Operation Centre, as well as a representative of the European Navy – EUNAVFOR.

To continue reading, please click here.

Source: neweurope.eu