We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Media reports from Papua New Guinea suggest that the country’s Navy intercepted a group of ‘pirates’ whilst on routine patrol.
The articles state that 8 crew on board an unnamed vessel, believed to be Chinese, were behaving suspiciously in PNG waters. The crew reportedly refused to allow PNG Navy on board, but ‘aggressive action’ was taken. EMTV reported that in 2017, the same vessel was allegedly intercepted in Milne Bay and cocaine was seized from it.
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Within an interval of seven days, two incidents of armed robbery against ships occurred while they were berthed/anchored in Batangas, Philippines. In both incidents, the perpetrators demonstrated violence toward crew with a knife.
In the first incident on 14 Aug at 1000 hrs, the perpetrator entered the cabin of the general steward, threatened him by pointing a long knife at him and stole his personal belongings. The perpetrator left the ship immediately via the mooring lines in a small unmarked blue motor banca stationed at the astern of the ship.
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Source: recaap.org
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The inauguration ceremony of the new state-of-the-art Joint Maritime Information Coordination Centre (JMICC) was held in Karachi on Friday, and Chief of the Naval Staff Admiral Zafar Mahmood Abbasi graced the occasion as chief guest and inaugurated the new setup.
The spokesman for the navy said in a statement that the JMICC functioned as a nerve centre to harmonise the efforts of all maritime-related organisations and agencies. It helped generating a coordinated response to maritime security challenges within Pakistan’s Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), primarily through information-sharing and inter department/ agency coordination, he added.
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Source: thenews.com.pk
Chinese longliner SHENGHAI2 was attacked by armed persons early in the morning Aug 21 on Freetown anchorage, Sierra Leone. Crew reportedly, tried to thwart an attack with ensuing fight, several crew were injured, including some seriously wounded.
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Source: maritimebulletin.net
The military, Thursday, said aggressive operations against economic sabotage in the Niger Delta, had resulted in the “deactivation” of 150,000 litres of illegally refined automatuve gas oil (AGO), as well as 943.47 barrels of crude oil.
It noted that the operations that culminated in the feat, were conducted between August 13 and 19 respectively.
The coordinator, Defence Media Operations (DMO), Major General John Enenche, made the disclosure at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja, during the regular briefing to provide updates on ongoing military operations across the country.
While expressing satisfaction with troops’ exploits in the various theatres of operations, Enenche vowed the readiness of the Armed Forces of Nigeria (AFN) to sustain the momentum of operations, to rid the country of crime and criminality.
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Source: newtelegraphng.com
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A group, Vanguard Against Corruption (VAC) has petitioned the Chief of Naval Staff, Ibok Ekwe Ibas, and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC), Abdullahi Gana Mohammadu, accusing some companies based in the United Kingdom, of of operating illegally on Nigerian water ways.
It alleged that the companies… [names of companies redacted due to potential libel issues] were providing security escort operations to foreign cargo vessels and Tankers entering Nigerian waters, without Naval and NSCDC approvals, and payment of requisite taxes to the Federal inland revenue services.
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Source: leadership.ng
By Godfrey Bivbere MARITIME Consultant and former general manager of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Christopher Borha, has said only the establishment of a Coast Guard is the permanent solution to the problem of piracy on the nation’s waters. Borha said that several attempts made in the past to curb the problem of piracy and armed robbery on the nations had failed because the Federal Government is taking the wrong approach.
In an exclusive chat with Vanguard Maritime Report, Borha who is also Head Analyst of C.A. Borha Management and Economic Services, stressed that the personnel for the Maritime Coast Guard should be drawn from the Nigerian Navy, the Marine Command of the Nigerian Police and other government agencies with security responsibilities.
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Source: vanguardngr.com
By Cynthia Alo The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has described the conviction of three persons in connection with vessel hijack on the Gulf of Guinea, as a signal that Nigeria is on the right path in the war against piracy and other crimes on the nation’s waterways.
The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had, two days ago, convicted the persons who were accused of involvement in the hijack of an Equatorial Guinean flagged vessel named, MV ELOBEY VI, off Equatorial Guinea’s coast on March 21, 2020.
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Source: vanguardngr.com
A Nigerian court has completed its first ever convictions using the nation’s new anti-piracy law, and the defendents have been sentenced to a five-figure fine. There is a twist, however: according to Nigerian media, the accused are not pirates as traditionally conceived, but rather the local employees and managers of a global private security company.
Last month, nine individuals affiliated with the Lagos branch of a UK-based global security company were charged in connection with the boarding and maritime kidnapping incident aboard the ro/ro ferry Elobey VI. The men were accused of involvement in a criminal conspiracy that resulted in the abduction of three crewmembers from the vessel off Equatorial Guinea on March 21. The captives were released in mid-May after the payment of a $200,000 ransom.
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Source: maritime-executive.com
Mozambique’s defence forces have said fighting for the key port of Mocimboa da Praia is continuing, after reports it had fallen to Islamist militants on Wednesday.
The military said there was ongoing action to – as it put it – neutralise the terrorists, who were using the local population as shields.
There have been days of fighting for the port in the gas-rich north of Mozambique.
The militants – linked to the Islamic State group – have briefly taken a number of northern towns in recent months, displacing tens of thousands of people.
Tanzania has said it will launch an offensive against the jihadists in forests bordering Mozambique.
Source: bbc.co.uk
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