We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Seven crew aboard a supply ship for the oil industry in Equatorial Guinea were kidnapped when “pirates” attacked their vessel, the oil and gas ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The US oil giant ExxonMobil reported that the supply ship Warden, which it was chartering from the oil services firm Swire, was attacked on Wednesday in the country’s territorial waters, it said.
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Source: heraldlive.co.za
Jakarta (ANTARA) – The government has continued to work hand in hand with Malaysia and the Philippines to facilitate the release of three Indonesians held captive by the Abu Sayyaf group since last September.
Director of Indonesian Citizen Protection of the Foreign Affairs Ministry Judha Nugraha delivered his response to a video last week that showed three Indonesians seeking the government’s assistance to set them free.
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Source: en.antaranews.com
A sub-commander of the Abu Sayyaf group was allegedly killed while two soldiers were wounded in a gun battle that broke out in Patikul, Sulu on Friday morning, a top military official said.
Maj. Gen. Corleto Vinluan, commander of 11th Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, said government forces encountered around 20 to 30 armed bandits in the village of Sanda in Patikul while conducting security patrols in the area.
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Source: news.abs-cbn.com
by Craig Jallal
Tanker operators facing calculated intimidation, passive aggression, indirect and direct attacks on vessels and bare-faced denial – welcome to the Middle East Gulf
The Middle East Gulf has never been a haven for tanker operators. The intense heat, coupled with the high traffic density, makes the Straits of Hormuz one of the most difficult chokepoints to navigate. Throw in the traditional religious and secular enmities and it has been a minefield (often literally) to navigate.
And while those minefields of the 1980s may have gone, their replacements – limpet mines, drones, fast attack boats and GPS spoofing of navigation systems – hardly give cause to celebrate. The timeline below shows the progression of incidents in the region during 2019, peaking with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) boarding the British-flagged tanker MR2 product tanker Stena Impero. The tanker has since been released and as at the middle of November 2019, the situation has calmed somewhat.
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Source: rivieramm.com
By SULEMAN DAHUN
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has directed naval commands to ensure that recently arrested vessels are processed and handed over to appropriate prosecuting agencies not later than 15 December 2019.
Addressing Principal Staff Officers, Flag Officers Commanding and Commanders of autonomous naval commands, Vice Admiral Ibas directed these units to work closely with zonal offices of prosecuting agencies and inform the Naval Headquarters and headquarters of such agencies of the handing over process.
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Source: prnigeria.com
By Kristy Inus
KOTA KINABALU: The armed men who abducted three Indonesian fishermen off Lahad Datu, Sabah, two months ago are demanding RM2.45mil for their release. The demand, made through one of the victims via a video recording, was released on Facebook last Saturday.
The three were identified as Maharudin Lunani, 48, his son Muhammad Farhan, 27, and crew member Samiun Maneu, 27. They were abducted by armed men from a Sandakan-registered fishing trawler off Tambisan waters.
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Source: thestar.com.my
A coalition of civil society groups has urged the National Assembly to revisit probe on the ceding of Nigerian Coastal Waterways to a questionable private firm.
In a petition to the lawmakers, the group disclosed that the contract was awarded to HSLI security firm and technologies at the cost of 195 millon dollars. Correspondent Habidah Lawal reports that the 195 million dollars maritime security contract was signed off by the Federal Executive Council in December 2017.
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Source: tvcnews.tv
By Gregory Clough and Morgan D. Bazilian*
Renewed conflict in the Strait of Hormuz pushed the United States to establish an international coalition for maritime security to ensure safe passage of shipping traffic and guarding against further disruption in oil supplies. While such security coalitions have been successful in the past, applying the same approach in the Middle East may not improve conditions and may even exacerbate tensions.
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Source: eurasiareview.com
Elo Edremoda
About 11 communities in Burutu and Bomadi council areas of Delta State are reportedly under serious attacks by pirates. The communities, in a save-our-soul message to President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that efforts to get the intervention of the local and state governments, as well as security operatives, have received no response.
According to them, the hoodlums who patrol the creeks daily, have held the communities under siege for over three months, maiming, stealing and raping their women.
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Source: thenationonlineng.net
Okungbowa Aiwerie
THERE is tension in Ekogbene community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State after suspected pirates and cult gangs blew up a community leader’s home.
The Nation gathered that the attack was to cow the community leadership. A source said no life was lost as the chairman and his family were outside during the attack.
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Source: thenationonlineng.net
Maritime Security News 