ReCAAP ISC 13th Governing Council Meeting Held at Singapore

By Baibhav Mishra

The 13th Governing Council Meeting of the ReCAAP ISC was held on 19 to 22 March 2019 in Singapore, hosted by the Singapore Government. The Council reviewed the activities of ReCAAP ISC in FY2018 and deliberated on its activities for FY2019 and beyond. On 22 March 2019, the Open Session was held with External Participants comprising representatives from three countries and 13 organisations.

The Council commended ReCAAP ISC on producing positive results in respect to its activities in FY2018 under the three pillars of its mission, i.e., information sharing, capacity building and cooperative arrangement.
The Council reviewed the progress of the implementation of the Roadmap for the Future of ReCAAP ISC and appreciated the continued progress as well as new initiatives ReCAAP ISC has made under the Roadmap as a Centre of Excellence for information sharing.

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Source: seanews.co.uk

Navy seeks better pact with maritime stakeholders for effective prosecution

By Odita Sunday, Jesutomi Akomolafe (Lagos), Kanayo Umeh, Sodiq Omolaoye (Abuja) and Ayodele Afolabi (Ado-Ekiti)

The Nigerian Navy (NN) is seeking better collaboration and understanding with maritime stakeholders for effective prosecution of pirates and sea robbers.

It said that lack of collaboration among relevant government agencies had been the reason why suspects are granted bail in court.

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Source: guardian.ng

The Forgotten Key to Maritime Security in the Sulu-Celebes Seas

Economic development in coastal communities will help stem the flow of illegal behavior.

By Jay Benson

Maritime insecurity in the Sulu and Celebes Seas is a persistent challenge. These waterways have recently been used  to conduct incursions into Lahad Datu, orchestrate kidnap for ransom activities by militant groups such as Abu Sayyaf, and facilitate illegal wildlife trafficking. Governments in the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia have responded with increased maritime enforcement capacity and presence, as well as enhanced international coordination. Although these are important efforts that need to be maintained, an exclusive focus on enforcement capacity risks ignoring an equally important facet of maritime insecurity: economic exclusion and inequality in coastal communities.

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Source: thediplomat.com

Houthis push for military escalation in Yemen’s Hodeidah: gov’t official


ADEN, Yemen, March 20 (Xinhua) — Yemen’s government accused on Wednesday the Houthi rebels of pushing for a new escalation of armed confrontations in the Red Sea port city of Hodeidah despite the cease-fire brokered by the United Nations.

The government’s spokesman, Rajeh Badi, announced during a press conference held in the southern port city of Aden that the Houthi rebels are continuing to dispatch military reinforcements into Hodeidah in an attempt to “spark the situation militarily again.”

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Source: xinhuanet.com

Anti-piracy firm ARX Maritime cheers overseas growth

HANNAH BURLEY

Anti-piracy equipment developer ARX Maritime has unveiled a four-fold rise in revenues after enjoying rapid international growth.

Sales at the Edinburgh-based firm, which develops self-install anti-piracy barriers to protect seafaring vessels, have risen by 300 per cent year-on-year since the business was formed in 2016.

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Source: scotsman.com

Cedros fishermen attacked by pirates

by Radhica De Silva

Ce­dros fish­er­men are call­ing for more pa­trols, say­ing Venezue­lan pi­rates are at­tack­ing lo­cal fish­er­men in ter­ri­to­r­i­al wa­ters.

A day af­ter Min­is­ter of Na­tion­al Se­cu­ri­ty Stu­art Young vis­it­ed Ce­dros, pi­rates ac­cost­ed a group of fish­er­men off the Bonasse jet­ty and stole their nets. Dur­ing an in­ter­view at Fullar­ton Beach on Mon­day, fish­er­man Raesh Ram­dass said it was be­com­ing im­pos­si­ble to fish in lo­cal wa­ters be­cause the Venezue­lan pi­rates were op­er­at­ing open­ly at nights un­der the noses of the T&T Coast Guard. He said the pi­rates have moved out of the Venezue­lan rivers and were look­ing for easy tar­gets on the open seas.

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Source: guardian.co.tt

Trinidad fisherman escapes Venezuelan pirates, colleague missing

(Trinidad Guardian) Des­per­ate to es­cape Venezue­lan pi­rates, two kid­napped fish­er­men jumped off their ab­duc­tors’ boat on Mon­day night and took their chances in the sea. Un­for­tu­nate­ly, on­ly one of them man­aged to make it home safe­ly.

Bruised and trau­ma­tised Key­on Alexan­der, 29, of La Union Road, Erin, ar­rived home around 3 pm yes­ter­day, less than 24 hours af­ter he was kid­napped. He had spent the night swim­ming des­per­ate­ly and scream­ing for help from pass­ing boats.

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Source: stabroeknews.com

Nigerian Waters Are Safe for Merchant Shipping – Shippers’ Council Boss

By Godwin Oritse

The Executive Secretary/ Chief Executive, Nigerian Shippers ‘Council, NSC, Hassan Bello, has said that the imposition of surcharges on Nigerian bound cargo due to imaginary security concerns along the Gulf of Guinea region is a misconception of foreign shipping lines.

He lambasted foreign shipping firms for miscategorization and exaggeration of the security situation in the country to justify surcharges they unjustly levied on cargo destined to Nigeria.

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Source: allafrica.com

China-Somalia Fishing Deal Could Create a Surge in Pirate Attacks

Fish stocks are an important policy issue in China. The most recent five-year plan regarding fishing policy called for improving the quality of catches to improve profitability. However, environmental degradation and overfishing have reduced the quality and quantity of China’s fish stocks. While China works on dealing with its environmental and fishing management policies, it has decided to go elsewhere to secure quality fish: Somalia.

China signed a deal with the Somali central government for licenses to fish. If you know about marine life off the coast of Somalia, the deal seems like a good idea. Somalia has abundant fish stocks that contain tuna, lobster, and swordfish. With the exception of coastal communities, Somalis largely don’t eat fish, so competition is limited. If the deal seems too good to be true, it’s because it is.

If you know anything about Somali politics, you should know that this deal is a horrible idea.

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Source: international.thenewslens.com

Famous Somali pirate killed in Mudug region

SOMALIA-A famous Somali pirate was killed in Golfula district, Mudug region.

The pirate named, Ahmed Mohamud used to be a high profile leader in piracy. Sources reveal that the pirate was killed two days ago. Mohamud left Hubyo division for Galkaayo before he was assassinated in Gofula district.

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Source: somaliaffairs.com