The federal government has lamented that insecurity on the nation’s maritime domain has deteriorated assuring that it is determined to stamp out all forms of insecurity such as piracy, sea robbery, kidnapping for ransom and oil theft, among others within the nation’s maritime domain.
The government said by January 2020, insecurity and maritime crime would be a thing of the past as it would begin a phased implementation of its new maritime security architecture.
THE Federal Government will begin the deployment of anti-piracy equipment in the nation’s Maritime sector by June 2019.
Disclosing this on Tuesday in Lagos during a stakeholders meeting tagged ‘Regulating The Maritime Industry For a Better Nigeria’, the Honourable Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi revealed that the situation as regards insecurity in the nation’s maritime sector is very bad as of now.
Nigeria’s government has authorized a local oil company to operate a new floating crude oil export terminal off the coast of the Rivers state in the oil-rich but still troubled Niger Delta.
Belemaoil Producing Ltd has been allowed to moor a floating storage and offloading (FSO) unit and use it as a crude oil export terminal, according to a letter signed by the Director of Nigeria’s Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), Mordecai Ladan, Nigerian media report.
From Southeast Asia and the Indian Ocean to Latin America and the Caribbean, the developing world is paying a price for maritime piracy and pilfering. Southeast Asia was home to two-fifths of the world’s pirate attacks between 1995 and 2013, while the waters off Africa remain a watery version of the Wild West.
Abuja — As part of its campaign to contain sea piracy and oil bunkering in the Niger Delta region, the Nigerian Army said yesterday it destroyed 93 illegal refineries in the Niger Delta region.
In the course of its anti-illegal and sea piracy operations, 29 sea robbers and illegal oil bunkerers were also arrested while 80 trucks were detained.
A fresh annual report from the International Maritime Bureau shows that attacks in West Africa helped push piracy numbers up in 2018. In terms of military and law enforcement, an international operation is not complicated, so what is needed above all is the will to act.
According to the bureau’s report, there were 201 incidents in total* reported to the bureau last year. That is a rise from 180 incidents in 2017 and from 191 in 2016. Of this, 48 incidents took place in Nigeria, up from 33 in 2017 and 36 incidents in 2016.
The report also showed that the region saw a considerable spike in violence in the last quarter of the year, with 40 kidnappings in the waters off Nigeria alone. In West Africa, there appears to be challenges with underreporting, which is estimated at as much as 40%, the report says.
Maritime Security News: It’s worth noting that the IMB only collates reports submitted to them directly by CSOs and Masters. To gain a full picture of maritime crime, it is necessary to collate reports from all agencies.
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah’s dusk-to-dawn sea curfew will be extended for another two weeks until June 10, says Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah.
He said the extension of the 6pm to 6am curfew was needed due to continuous threats from cross-border criminals, including from kidnap-for-ransom groups.
The Director-General of Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, said the agency is partnering with foreign ship registry to reposition the Nigerian Ship Registry (NSR).
Peterside disclosed this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Abuja.
“We are also reforming the Nigeria Ship Registration Office. For a very long time the Nigeria ship registry has not been very competitive, so we are developing a lot of partnerships.”
Meeting reiterates: threat of piracy not eradicated off the Horn of Africa.
On 23 May, ECSA’s Maritime Security Working Group met with the EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta at their operation headquarters in Rota, Spain.
Representing the European shipping industry, the ECSA delegation met with the EU NAVFOR’s team to discuss the current state of piracy off the coast of Somalia. The delegation also visited the naval assets participating in Operation Atalanta. For the past ten years, EU NAVFOR has deterred and prevented acts of piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia, protected vessels of the World Food Programme (WFP) and African Union Mission Somalia (AMISOM), and monitored acts of illegal fishing.
While it is true that today the number of attacks is minimal, this is only a result of the industry’s implementation of Best Management Practices along with the combined action of different actors and organisations, notably the states in the region.
“We know for a fact that pirate networks maintain the intent, the means and the capability to deploy and attack merchant vessels,” said R. Adm. Antonio Martorell Lacave. “It is up to us – military operations, coalitions and regional states – to uphold deterrence, operate in a flexible and agile manner and keep the seas safe.”
“Operation Atalanta has been a key element in the decrease of piracy attacks,” Flemming Dahl Jensen ECSA’s Maritime Security Working Group Chair mentioned. “We need to ensure there are sufficient resources allocated to guarantee its successful continuation.”
EU NAVFOR remains committed to deterring, preventing and suppressing piracy and emphasizes that the Maritime Industry must continue to adhere to BMP measures in order to maximize the safety of the ships and crews whilst transiting the high-risk area.
The European shipowners expressed their support to EU NAVFOR Operation Atalanta and their close cooperation with other international actors. The shipping industry will continue to cooperate with the EU NAVFOR team to ensure that Somali-based piracy stays suppressed.
The Federal Government said it has taken delivery of two helicopters, 20 speed boats and other equipment needed to secure Nigerian waters.
Last year, President Muhammadu Buhari approved $195 million to boost maritime security and reduce criminal activities. To achieve its aim, the government engaged an Israeli company to train some personnel on waterways security.
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