Naval Dome S-Model cyber protection introduced

To facilitate shipowner demand for an immediate cyber security solution for critical systems, Naval Dome has introduced a new software-based cyber protection that can be easily installed on all ship, port, or offshore OT systems, including navigational equipment, machinery control systems and cargo handling equipment.

S-Marine Dome and S-Port Dome are aimed at those ship, offshore energy and terminal operators requiring instant protection without having to go through lengthy type approval processes or can no longer afford to wait for suppliers to upgrade or replace critical systems.

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Source: seanews.co.uk

Yemen’s Houthis release captured South Korean, Saudi vessels

SEOUL/DUBAI (Reuters) – Yemen’s Iran-aligned Houthi movement released three vessels and 16 people it had seized, South Korea’s foreign ministry and a Houthi military source in Yemen said on Wednesday.

The seizure on Sunday was the latest incident at sea around Yemen, where Saudi Arabia is leading a Western-backed coalition of Arab states against the Houthis, who control the capital and most population centres and have been accused of attacking shipping.

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Source: uk.reuters.com

Sanwo-Olu flags off Crocodile Smile IV, tasks security on vandals, others

Precious Igbonwelundu

Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday flagged off Exercise Crocodile Smile IV with a charge to security agencies to flush pipeline vandals, pirates, kidnappers and armed robbers out of the state.

He declared the exercise open shortly after watching a beach landing and counter terrorism simulation at the Takwa Bay Island in Iru-Victoria Island Local Council Development Area (LCDA).

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Source: thenationonlineng.net

Fighting piracy in the Gulf of Guinea needs a radical rethink

By Dirk Siebels

The Bonita had been anchored off Benin for several days, waiting for a berth in the port of Cotonou. On November 2, 2019 the crew had a traumatic awakening. Armed men boarded the vessel and kidnapped nine crew members. Only two days later, four seafarers were kidnapped from the Elka Aristotle, which was anchored off Lomé in neighbouring Togo.

Unfortunately, these were not the only attacks off the coast of West Africa in which seafarers were kidnapped. Nevertheless, the patterns are changing, with gradual signs of improvement. In addition, attacker success rates in the region have declined from 80% over ten years ago to just under 50% in 2018.

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Source: econotimes.com

Pirates Thriving Off West Africa Show Disunity, Togo Leader Says

By Yinka Ibukun

West African states’ failure to coordinate their response to piracy off their coastline is the main reason attacks are persisting, Togolese President Faure Gnassingbe said.

Seaborne assailants boarded two vessels off the coast of Togo and neighboring Benin earlier this month.

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Source: bloomberg.com

Despite N350.4b annual security budget, oil facilities not safe

By Kingsley Jeremiah

Though the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and some International Oil Companies (IOCs) operating in the country stake as much as N350.4b for staff and asset protecting yearly, the nation is still losing over N1.6t to oil and gas theft every year.

Indeed, stakeholders in the sector are pointing accusing fingers at the nation’s military and a network of politically exposed individuals as being behind the growing losses of crude and refined petroleum products estimated at $42b (N15t) in the past 10 years.

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Source: guardian.ng

Yemen’s Legitimacy Asks for Safe Corridors in Hodeidah

Badr Al-Qahtani

The legitimate government asked Chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee (RCC) and head of the United Nations Mission to Support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) Abhijit Guha to “open humanitarian corridors in the city of Hodeidah,” an informed Yemeni source told Asharq Al-Awsat.

The government explained that it requested to open the corridors because of the presence of government-controlled areas in the city, although Houthi militias rule most of it, the source said Thursday.

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Source: aawsat.com

Nigeria to form border force with neighbors Benin and Niger to fight smuggling

Camillus Eboh

ABUJA (Reuters) – Nigeria and neighboring countries Benin and Niger have agreed to set up a joint border patrol force to tackle smuggling between the West African countries, they said in a communique on Thursday.

Foreign ministers from the three countries met to discuss smuggling following a decision by regional giant Nigeria, which has Africa’s largest economy and biggest population, to close its land borders to trade until at least Jan. 31, 2020.

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Source: reuters.com

Navy monitors pipelines with drones

By Precious Igbonwelundu

The Nigerian Navy (NN) on Thursday said drones and helicopters have been deployed for surveillance of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines from Atlas Cove, Apapa to Ejigbo and Mosimi depots in Lagos and Ogun states.

This deployment, the service said, was to beat pipeline vandals who loot petroleum products from ruptured pipes and then find ways to smuggle them out of the country.

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Source: thenationonlineng.net

Pirates have attacked 16 cargo vessels a month this year in Gulf of Mexico

And not a single arrest has been made

Pirate attacks in the southern part of the Gulf of Mexico have increased fourfold in just two years, triggering calls for the navy to bolster its presence in the area.

Between January and September, there was an average of 16 attacks per month on cargo ships off the coast of Ciudad del Carmen, Campeche, and Dos Bocas, Tabasco, according to the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF).

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Source: mexiconewsdaily.com