We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
The navy’s response time is slow so pirates have lots of time to make a getaway
Working on an oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico is not for the faint-hearted.
Frequent attacks by modern day pirates on Pemex oil platforms have left some workers scared that they could be killed while working and living offshore.
“We fear for our lives,” said Martín Gómez, who has worked on state oil company rigs for almost three decades.
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Source: mexiconewsdaily.com
BY BEN TAN
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 14 — Notorious Abu Sayyaf sub-commander “Idang” Susukan who is wanted by both Malaysia and the Philippines has been arrested in Davao City on the southern Philippine island of Mindanao.
Philippines police caught Idang yesterday at the house of Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) leader Nur Misuari, The Star reported.
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Source: malaymail.com
By Cynthia Alo The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr. Bashir Jamoh, has described the conviction of three persons in connection with vessel hijack on the Gulf of Guinea, as a signal that Nigeria is on the right path in the war against piracy and other crimes on the nation’s waterways.
The Federal High Court in Port Harcourt had, two days ago, convicted the persons who were accused of involvement in the hijack of an Equatorial Guinean flagged vessel named, MV ELOBEY VI, off Equatorial Guinea’s coast on March 21, 2020.
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Source: vanguardngr.com
BAHRAIN
08.13.2020
Story by NAVCENT Public Affairs
U.S. Naval Forces Central Command / U.S. 5th Fleet
Coalition Task Force (CTF) Sentinel, the operational arm of the International Maritime Security Construct (IMSC) monitored an incident involving Iranian forces who boarded a tanker in the international waters of the Gulf of Oman near the Strait of Hormuz, Aug 12.
A video captured the moment an Iranian Sea King helicopter hovered above M/T Wila and armed Iranian personnel fast roped aboard the ship. Initial reports indicate two Iranian ships in the vicinity of the incident.
Iran’s use of its military forces to conduct an armed boarding of a commercial vessel in international waters constitutes a blatant violation of international law that undermines freedom of navigation and the free flow of commerce. We call on Iran to articulate to the international community the legal basis for its actions. This type of reckless, aggressive behavior by Iran destabilizes the region and threatens the rules based international order.
A CTF Sentinel coalition ship was providing overwatch in the immediate area and monitored the incident. There were no calls for help issued by Wila. CTF Sentinel’s mission is to deter and expose malign activity and reassure the maritime community in the region.
CTF Sentinel is working to secure the regional maritime commons and recommends Best Management Practices 5 (BMP5) as a guide for enhanced maritime security.
Source: dvidshub.net
To download BMP 5, please click here.
A Nigerian court has completed its first ever convictions using the nation’s new anti-piracy law, and the defendents have been sentenced to a five-figure fine. There is a twist, however: according to Nigerian media, the accused are not pirates as traditionally conceived, but rather the local employees and managers of a global private security company.
Last month, nine individuals affiliated with the Lagos branch of a UK-based global security company were charged in connection with the boarding and maritime kidnapping incident aboard the ro/ro ferry Elobey VI. The men were accused of involvement in a criminal conspiracy that resulted in the abduction of three crewmembers from the vessel off Equatorial Guinea on March 21. The captives were released in mid-May after the payment of a $200,000 ransom.
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Source: maritime-executive.com
Mozambique’s defence forces have said fighting for the key port of Mocimboa da Praia is continuing, after reports it had fallen to Islamist militants on Wednesday.
The military said there was ongoing action to – as it put it – neutralise the terrorists, who were using the local population as shields.
There have been days of fighting for the port in the gas-rich north of Mozambique.
The militants – linked to the Islamic State group – have briefly taken a number of northern towns in recent months, displacing tens of thousands of people.
Tanzania has said it will launch an offensive against the jihadists in forests bordering Mozambique.
Source: bbc.co.uk
In the latest salvo of the ongoing disputes regarding the shipment of Iranian oil, there are reports that Iranian Naval forces approached several vessels and boarded a Liberian-flagged tanker Wila as it was approaching the Khor Fakkan anchorage in the UAE.
The marine security firm Dryad Global reported the incident while also saying according to its analysis that, “Iran’s actions today do not raise the overall risk posed by vessels within either the Gulf of Oman or Strait of Hormuz.” In an update to its initial report, using data from TankerTracker, Dryad however later added details suggesting that Iranian forces also approached the Marshal Island flagged MT Freud and the Panama flagged MT Chemway Arrow prior to boarding the Wila.
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In July 2020, six incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in Asia. Of the six incidents, one was a piracy incident and five were armed robbery against ships.
There was no report of abduction of crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and waters off Eastern Sabah, Malaysia in July 2020. However, the abduction of crew for ransom remains a serious concern as demonstrated by the Warning issued by the ReCAAP ISC on 2 July that five Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) members were planning to conduct abduction of crew from ships passing by Tawi-Tawi and Sabah waters.
The ReCAAP ISC is also concerned about the continued occurrence of incidents on board ships while underway in the Singapore Strait. Three incidents were reported in July 2020. With these, a total of 19 incidents were reported in the Singapore Strait during January-July 2020 comprising 15 incidents occurred in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS), two incidents in the precautionary area, one incident in the westbound lane of the TSS and one incident just outside (south) of the TSS.
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Source: recaap.org
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On July 17, 2020, the tanker Curacao Trader was boarded by pirates at a position about 210 nautical miles from Nigerian shores. 13 Russian and Ukrainian seafarers were abducted. Two weeks before, the freighter Kota Budi was boarded about 200 nm from Nigerian shore. What is particularly noticeable about these attacks is the location: when looking at the statistics for 2019, it appears that the average distance of confirmed pirate attacks was 62 nm from shore, with only seven attacks at positions more than 100 nm from shore. In 2020, the average distance of confirmed pirate attacks was 75 nm, and there have already been several pirate attacks at positions more than 100 nm from shore.
Despite the improvement of the regional cooperation demonstrated in the response to the Hai Lu Feng 11 attack in May, despite the arrival of new maritime platforms, despite the use of surveillance systems like the Deep Blue project in Nigeria, it is obvious that pirates are a permanent threat off West Africa. The increase of pirates’ operational range is not a surprise for informed observers. This trend was seen in the Indian Ocean between 2004 and 2010, when Somali pirates reached almost to the west coast of India. This evolution is not due to chance – it’s simply the search for “soft locations,” areas where no means of coercion prevent the act of piracy or react quickly enough to intervene in a boarding or kidnapping. West African pirates thus demonstrate their capacity for adaptation.
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Source: maritime-executive.com
PAGADIAN CITY, Zamboanga del Sur – The Police Regional Office (PRO-9) has activated “Task Force Pink Panther” to boost security in “risk areas” and address threat groups in the region. Brig. Gen. Jesus Cambay Jr., PRO-9 director, who led the activation of the task force Monday, said the unit will consist of five task groups to secure the region’s coastlines.
In an interview Tuesday, Cambay said the task force will consist of policemen, soldiers, and personnel from other line agencies, especially those engaged in law enforcement, like the coast guard, and maritime police.
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Source: pna.gov.ph
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