We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Anna Okon
Pirates attacked a vessel that left Lagos for Port Harcourt while proceeding south west of Bonny Island.
The vessel, Drogba, was attacked on December 30. The ‘Drogba’ enroute from Lagos to Port Harcourt was attacked by armed pirates in a speedboat in vicinity within 48 nautical miles off Bonny.
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Source: punchng.com
Oil-bearing communities of Abia have called for more collaboration among the stakeholders for a more effective security around the nation’s oil pipelines to check vandalism and oil bunkering.
The call was made by a cross-section of representatives of 20 oil-bearing and pipeline host communities in Ukwa west and Ukwa east council areas of the state during a one-day stakeholders’ meeting organised by the National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency (NOSDRA) on Monday in Umuahia.
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Source: premiumtimesng.com
Bulk carrier VINALINES MIGHTY wasn’t the only one attacked on Dec 30, two more ships were attacked, in different positions, at different time, 8 crew were kidnapped. Two attacks were thwarted by Nigerian armed security teams on board. Shipping in Gulf of Guinea needs private armed guards, provided by international security agencies.
Product tanker HAPPY LADY
Product tanker HAPPY LADY was attacked at around 2300 Dec 30 in position 04 00N 009 06E, some 6 nm SW of Limbe, Cameroon, where tanker is anchored since late November, so maybe she was a happy lady indeed to remain anchored in dangerous waters for such a long time, without being attacked, No other information on this attack yet, no information on crew’s fate, are they safe or kidnapped, or/and injured?
UPDATE: 8 crew out of 28 on board were kidnapped, among them 5 Greeks, 2 Filipinos, and 1 Ukrainian.
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Source: maritimebulletin.net
Crew on three ships have repelled armed and dangerous pirates in waters off West Africa in the past seven days
AT LEAST two piracy groups working in the Gulf of Guinea are responsible for the recent spate of attacks on tankers and kidnapping of crew, research from maritime security firm Dryad Global concludes.
The London-based company has identified a mothership, which one pirate group is using to operate deep offshore, as well as a separate group that’s exploiting ambiguous and haphazard patrolling on the outskirts of Nigeria’s Economic Exclusion Zone. The EEZ extends for 240 nautical miles.
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Source: lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com
PETALING JAYA: A ship with 16 Malaysian crew members on board has been seized by Iran’s Revolutionary Guard Corps for fuel smuggling, according to the official Irna news agency.
The ship was reported to be carrying nearly 1.3 million litres of fuel. It was not known under which national flag the ship was sailing. It was reportedly seized near Abu Musa Island, near the entrance to the Straits of Hormuz.
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Source: freemalaysiatoday.com
Piracy attacks off West Africa over the past week have escalated, reaching extraordinarily dangerous proportions where bullets were fired at a moving LNG carrier.
Not for the first time, the BW Group-owned LNG Lokoja was attacked on Saturday morning while en route to Bonny in southern Nigeria. The vessel is understood to have come under attack from a single speedboat with 10 armed men onboard. The pirates are understood to have opened fire on the vessel. Security firm Dryad Global reported the gas carrier conducted evasive maneuvers causing the attack to fail.
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Source: splash247.com
The increase in piracy attempts in the Singapore Strait is a cause for concern as terrorists could exploit the same loopholes to wreak havoc, say security experts.
Government officials have called for greater collaboration with regional neighbours to address the threat.
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Source: straitstimes.com
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – After conclusion of a joint naval war game of Iran, Russia and China, a ranking Iranian military commander said the Islamic Republic will continue to stage joint military exercises with other countries in the coming years.
Commander of the Naval Operations Department of the General Staff of the Iranian Armed Forces General Mohammad Ebrahim Dehqani said on Sunday that joint military drills will definitely continue in the coming years.
According to the commander, the joint exercises in future will include other regional countries as well.
He also stressed that the naval exercise of Iran, Russia and China has given the enemies a clear message that any mistake would draw a crushing response from the Iranian Armed Forces.
“Our friends receive an assurance that the region’s maritime security would be ensured by the Islamic Republic of Iran and its allies, and there is no need for alien forces in the region, particularly the Americans,” he said.
Denouncing the presence of American forces as a main factor behind regional insecurity, Dehqani said the US decision to transfer its military forces from the Persian Gulf and the Sea of Oman to the northern parts of the Indian Ocean reveals that “Americans are even incapable of ensuring their own security.”
Iranian, Russian, and Chinese naval units on Sunday wrapped up the joint exercise after three days.
On the final day of the joint drill, the naval forces of the three countries exercised tactics to fight piracy and extinguish vessel fires in the international waters south of Iran.
The war game came amid US efforts to woo countries into a maritime coalition for patrols in the Persian Gulf, which have received lukewarm welcome from its allies.
Source: tasnimnews.com
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – There is no place for American forces in the region anymore, Iranian Navy Commander Rear Admiral Hossein Khanzadi said.
“Today, the era of American free action in the region is over, and they (US forces) must leave the region gradually,” Rear Admiral Khanzadi told reporters on Sunday on the sidelines of a joint naval exercise of Iran, Russia and China, which is underway in the Sea of Oman and the northern parts of the Indian Ocean.
“We believe that regional security does not require the presence of those (foreign) countries, and that regional countries themselves can ensure security together,” he added.
The Iranian Navy commander also expressed hope that more regional states would join Iran in the efforts to ensure security.
“We believe that maritime security definitely needs collective action,” Khanzadi added.
He went on to say that friends of Iran and those favoring regional security have welcomed the joint naval drill, while the US and its proxies who seek to impose inappropriate security arrangements on the region would receive “significant messages” from the war game.
Iran, Russia and China are holding a four-day joint naval exercise, dubbed Marine Security Belt, in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Oman.
The war game comes amid US efforts to woo countries into a maritime coalition for patrols in the Persian Gulf, which have received lukewarm welcome from its allies.
Source: tasnimnews.com
TOKYO, Dec. 27 (Xinhua) — The Japanese Cabinet on Friday approved the dispatch of Maritime Self-Defense Force (MSDF) personnel to the Middle East amid tensions in the region, despite public opposition and post-war military constraints restricting the nation’s military activities constitutionally.
The planned deployment, backed by the ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) and its coalition ally, Komeito, is to purportedly conduct information-gathering operations and others related to enhancing the safety of commercial shipping in the region.
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Source: xinhuanet.com
Maritime Security News 