Navy 2018 score card: 340 suspects arrested over alleged maritime offences

…277,040 crude oil, 23.1m litres AGO,1.2m DPK, lost to illegal refining …46 vessels arrested

By Evelyn Usman

One of the ills bedeviling the security space of the country’s coastline has been the scourge of maritime crimes such as piracy , sea robbery , crude oil theft , bunkering , insurgency and hostage taking.

Often times , Nigerians are daunted with news of criminal elements who hide under the veneer of these maritime crimes to inflict untold emotional and psychological trauma on innocent and defenseless sailors.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

Attacks on trawlers have reduced – FG, Fishing trawlers

By Godwin Oritse

THE Nigerian Trawler Owners Association, NITOA, and the Federal Department of Fishery and Agriculture, have said that there has been a drastic reduction in pirates attacks against fishing trawlers.

Speaking to Vanguard Maritime Report, President of the association, Mr. Amire Akinbola, said although he could not make the figures available to our correspondent, the report of such attacks was very minimal last year.

Maritime Security News Note:

This may well be the case for Nigerian fishermen, but it’s a different story for crew on other vessels. On Feb. 24th, eight Chinese crew were reportedly kidnapped from fishing vessels off Cameroon.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

Philippines, Malaysia to jointly combat terrorism, illegal drug trade

The Philippines and Malaysia vowed on Thursday to ramp up their cooperation to address security issues in the region, particularly in combating terrorism, piracy and transnational crimes, including the fight against illegal drug trade.

“We resolved to address security issues. We touched on our extensive economic cooperation. We shared the view that its further expansion serves our mutual interests as that of ASEAN and our region,” Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte said after his meeting with visiting Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad at the Malacanang presidential palace.

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Source: globaltimes.cn

Late Report: Suspicious Approach, Indian Ocean (Feb. 11th)

LATE Report | Whilst en route to Mombasa, Kenya, master of Singapore-flagged container ship noticed via the radar a suspicious vessel without AIS on vessel’s port bow at 1300 UTC in position 02:29.60S – 054:09E, approx 145nm from Mahe, Seychelles. Master monitored suspicious vessel although it did not appear to show any signs of attempt to come near the ship. About 20 mins later, suspicious vessel started to move at small angle, followed by changing its course to starboard side and increased its speed and was sighted to approach the ship’s route. The master immediately increased speed, adjusted course and closely monitored the suspicious vessel. General alarm sounded and all crew were notified. Crew closed all access to the accommodation, started fire pump and activated anti-piracy watch. Suspicious vessel subsequently stopped its pursuit. Suspicious vessel believed to be the mother vessel as there was a small boat sighted nearby. Second suspicious vessel sighted on starboard bow at 1546 UTC. Reported 11 Feb. Via OCEANUSLive.org

Crew Kidnap – Gulf of Guinea (March 3rd)

Underway Malta-flagged tanker attacked and boarded by pirates at 2030 UTC in position 05:37N – 001:11E, around 30nm South of Lome, Togo. Crew mustered in citadel, however, three Romanian crew members were kidnapped. Remainder of 21 crew were able to sail vessel to Lome anchorage under escort. Reported (MDAT/Romanian MFA) 3 Mar. Via OCEANUSLive.org

Robbery in SOMS (March 5th)

Whilst underway, Malaysia-flagged tugboat and barge, crew spotted 11 robbers boarding the barge that was being towed by tug boat from two small crafts at 0310 UTC in position 01:12.08N – 103:34.62E, Straits of Malacca & Singapore. Tugboat and barge carrying scrap iron, bound for Penang, Malaysia. At about 0345 UTC, Master reported that 11 robbers have escaped in small crafts with stolen scrap iron. No confrontation with the crew. All crew are safe. Reported (ReCAAP) 5 Mar. Via OCEANUSLive.org.

Petro-piracy a growing risk off West Africa

Petro-piracy is emerging once again as a significant threat in West African waters, with the Gulf of Guinea at the epicentre, delegates at the 10th Chemical & Products Tanker Conference were told in London earlier this week.

David Fletcher, head of compliance at EOS Risk Group, said that as petro-piracy has re-emerged as a threat since January 2018, ships carrying cargoes such as jet fuel, diesel, crude oil and marine gas oil are all at greater risk.

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Source: seatrade-maritime.com

Pirates spare mother and child in PNG

By DOROTHY MARK
ARMED pirates attacked a dinghy but left a mother and her baby, a 13-year-old girl and eight others unharmed. However, two others are still missing after they were forced to jump into the sea.

The terrifying drama unfolded at 3pm on Saturday when the dinghy, skippered by a man called Zebedi Moka, ran into six pirates armed with homemade guns, two bush knives and two catapults. Moka said the pirates ordered everyone, except the mother and her baby, to jump into the sea near the Kalibobo Lighthouse towards the Gogol River.

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Source: thenational.com.pg

Pirates kidnap three Romanian sailors

Pirates have reportedly kidnapped three Romanian sailors aboard a tanker ship off Lome, Togo.

This was after sea robbers attempted to board a container ship owned by Singapore’s Pacific International Lines while the vessel was sailing on the high sea around Nigeria’s Niger Delta region on February 21.

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Source: punchng.com

Maritime Security News Note:

There has been a sharp spike in piracy and maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea over the last three weeks. This is potentially a political message from President Buhari’s opponents and organised crime groups in the Niger Delta. We have seen three crew kidnapped here as well as eight crew from Chinese fishing vessels in recent weeks, representing a worrying increase in risk for merchant vessels visiting the region.

Naval Forces Western Mindanao gets new commander

ZAMBOANGA CITY, Philippines — Vice Adm. Rene Empedrad, Philippine Navy chief, on Thursday installed a new commander for Naval Forces Western Mindanao to replace Vice Adm. Rene Medina, who now heads the Western Command in Palawan.

Rear Adm. Erick Kagadan replaces Medina at NFWM.

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Source: philstar.com