We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Gabon’s navy has accepted a new maritime operations centre (MOC), which was built by the United States Navy’s Seabees. It will support Gabon in protecting its maritime borders and countering illicit trafficking.
The US Navy this week said Seabees assigned to US Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 133 turned over the MOC to the Gabonese navy at a ribbon cutting ceremony at Port Gentil on 3 May.
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Source: defenceweb.co.za
BIMCO’s Documentary Committee has agreed a new standard Cyber Security Clause that requires the parties to implement cyber security procedures and systems, to help reduce the risk of an incident and mitigate the consequences should a security breach occur.
In the wake of recent costly cyber security incidents involving large shipping companies, cyber security has become a major focus in the maritime industry.
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Source: hellenicshippingnews.com
A crew sailing off the coast of Singapore had a close encounter with pirates late last week, according to a new report from ReCAAP, the south east Asian anti-piracy center.
A tug-and-barge was heading westbound about five miles southwest-by-west off the coast of Singapore on Sunday. That’s in the narrow strait between Singapore and Malaysia on one side and Indonesia on the other. The tug master reported by radio that six pirates were boarding the barge “Smit Cyclone”.
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Source: freightwaves.com
SULU: Philippine National Police (PNP) Sulu Provincial Commander Pablo Labra reported Saturday that a Dutch hostage abducted by the Abu Sayyaf militants seven years has joined the terrorist group.
Identified as 57-year old Ewold Horn, Labra said the kidnap victim turned outlaw together with Swiss national Lorenzo Vinciguerra were adopted by Abu Sayyaf militants and suspected MNLF members in Tawi-Tawi in 2012.
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Source:dailyexpress.com.my
A Palau flagged Tanker, MT APECUS, hijacked off the coast of Bonny, Nigeria last month has been conducting trading activities in Nigerian waters since 2014 without permit, the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) said Monday.
Nevertheless, the agency said it was committed to rescue the abducted seven crew, comprising five Indian nationals and two other individuals of unspecified nationality.
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Source: sunnewsonline.com
The group said it will declare the Niger Delta Republic on the 1st of June, 2019. “We have already recruited, trained and equip our freedom fighters for this purpose. Arms and other war materials has been bought and brought to Nigeria, immediately we commence action, Port Harcourt Airport would be shut down and only our fighter jets would be permitted to use the facility.
A group called Niger Delta Republic Fighters has ordered all oil companies and multi-nationals operating in the Niger Delta to vacate the region from May 29, 2019.
The group said it will declare the Niger Delta Republic on the 1st of June, 2019.
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Source: saharareporters.com
Following the 12 May sabotage attacks on four tankers off Fujairah the LMA Joint War Commission (JWC) has added the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to its listed areas for Hull War, Piracy, Terrorism and Related Perils.
The decision by the JWC was taken on Friday, following a meeting earlier in the week where it had deferred a decision on amending its list of war risk areas.
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Source: seatrade-maritime.com
by Akinyemi Akinrujomu
The Nigerian Navy has recruited no fewer than 1,176 young men and women to aid its fight against sea pirates and oil bunkers in the nation’s maritime domain.
News Agency of Nigeria reports that General Abayomi Olonisakin, Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), revealed this on Saturday, May 18 at the formal Passing Out Parade of Batch 28 recruits trained at the Nigerian Navy Basic Training School in Onne, Rivers state.
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Source: legit.ng
Tunde Ajaja
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime says the estimated economic cost of piracy to Nigeria and other West African countries between 2015 and 2017 stands at $2.3bn.
It stated that within the period under review, the sub-region lost about $777.1m to piracy on an annual basis, which it said was in addition to human costs as the Gulf of Guinea experienced an escalation of piracy, kidnapping and armed robbery at sea incidents in recent years.
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Source: punchng.com
BY Vincent Obia
When in December last year Dr. Dakuku Peterside appealed to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) to, “Please, report Nigeria appropriately,” he was making a passionate comment on a country determined to change, and challenging the misrepresentation of its situation by a world information system often lost in the ambiguities of perception. The call by the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), made during a visit by the International Maritime Security Operations Team (IMSOT) from the United Kingdom, was against the backdrop of exaggerated reports on incidents on the country’s waterways. IMB, a specialised department of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) dedicated to fighting maritime crime and malpractice, was the main culprit in what looked like a campaign of disinformation against the Nigerian maritime domain.
In often complicated and confusing accounts of maritime incidents, crimes within and outside Nigeria’s territorial waters are lumped together and presented as piracy. And attempts are hardly made to appreciate Nigeria’s efforts to curtail security incidents within its maritime space.
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Source: thisdaylive.com
Maritime Security News 