Nigeria seeks collaboration to tackle maritime crimes

By Sulaimon Salau and Joke Falaju

Worried by the impact of maritime crime on the regional economy, Nigeria has sought partnership with other countries to tackle the menace headlong.

The Director-General, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dakuku Peterside, who made this call at the ongoing Global Maritime Security Conference, in Abuja, said maritime insecurity remains one of the significant challenges affecting international trade, and the quest for sustainable use of ocean resources for economic growth, improved livelihood and job creation.

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Source: guardian.ng

MarsecNews: If NIMASA is genuinely looking to collaborate with other nations on maritime crime, then it could be a significant move for the Gulf of Guinea. Traditionally, navies in the region have been slow to cooperate with one another but when they have, it has paid dividends. Overall intelligence sharing in the Gulf of Guinea between states has been poor, but efforts in recent years have improved the situation slightly. There remains, however, an issue with certain nations who have multiple agencies all vying for government funding and competing with one another for relevance. As organised criminal gangs have shifted from petro-piracy to crew kidnap for ransom, the speed of naval response becomes more crucial; it’s a lot harder to track a skiff full of hostages than a tanker.

Genuine cooperation between nation states in the Gulf of Guinea would go a long way to suppress maritime crimes such as piracy and armed robbery, allowing for faster response times. However, as long as some countries continue to downplay the threat of piracy, the situation will persist.

150 kg heroin from Pakistan seized, fifth haul in 3 months

They added that in the latest case Indian security agencies detected the boat on September 30 about 500 nautical miles or 926 km off the Kochi coast.

Sudhi Ranjan Sen

At least 150 kg heroin worth millions of dollars was on Saturday seized in a joint operation of coast guards of India, the Maldives and Sri Lankan from a boat on his way from Pakistan days after it was detected in international waters in the India-Ocean Region (IOR) off Kerala’s Kochi coast, according to officials aware of the development.

The officials said it is the fifth haul of drugs shipped from Pakistan through the sea that has been recovered over the last three months. The Sri Lankan Coast Guard seized 140 kg heroin from a vessel registered in Iran in July 2019 in a similar coordinated operation.

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Source: hindustantimes.com

Kidnapping in the Sulu Sea: Implications on Terrorism in the Philippines

In the Sulu Seas, kidnap-for-ransom activities perpetrated by Islamic State-linked terrorist networks are on the rise again.

By Kenneth Yeo

On September 23, a group of seven gunmen aboard two pump boats ambushed and seized three fishermen off the coast of East Sabah, in a sign of how the Islamic State (IS) and its affiliated networks continue to trouble the Southeast Asian region. The latest attack follows a surge in ambushes and kidnappings in the last two years along the Sulu Seas, which encompasses the waters around Indonesia, Malaysia’s eastern Sabah state and the Philippines, and has long been a hotspot for piracy and sea robbery. Although there was no claim of responsibility, the attackers are said to be members of an Abu Sayyaf splinter group affiliated with the Islamic State (IS) in Sulu province. It is believed the seven gunman, who were masked, boarded two fishing vessels around midday local time, and abducted three crew members.

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Source: thediplomat.com

India starts sharing maritime data

Dinakar Peri

Information Fusion Centre — Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) was set up last year

The Information Fusion Centre – Indian Ocean Region (IFC-IOR) set up last year has started functioning as an information sharing hub of maritime data and “cuing incident responses” to maritime security situations through a collaborative approach, Navy sources said.

At the just concluded Goa Maritime Conclave (GMC), National Security Adviser Ajit Doval had offered countries in the IOR use of the facility to track movement of vessels on the high seas.

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Source: thehindu.com

CTF150 (FS Nivose) Achieves Major Drugs Bus in Arabian Sea

A French warship, representing Combined Task Force 150 (CTF 150) seized a huge amount of hashish from a rogue dhow on Wednesday 25 September. The dhow had been tracked for a short period and did not respond to requests from the warship, FS NIVOSE, on her intentions. Highly trained French sailors, in military rigid inflatable boats, conducted a boarding and in the subsequent search, over 2.5 tonnes of the illegal narcotic was discovered and subsequently destroyed.

Commodore Ed Ahlgren Royal Navy, the Commander of Combined Task Force 150, said, ”This substantial seizure clearly and unequivocally demonstrates the true value and significant impact of CMF operations on those malign actors who choose to use the sea for their unlawful purposes. The French warship, FS NIVOSE, operating in Direct Support of the joint UK and French CTF 150 Command, has sought tenaciously those who wish to do us harm and incite instability in both this region and further afield. Thanks to their efforts, they have disrupted a vital flow of funding to nefarious organisations and I congratulate the crew of FS NIVOSE on their success and wish them good hunting for their forthcoming operations.”

CTF 150 is a great example of how the cooperation between international maritime members of the CMF can work together to achieve the common goal of deterring or catching those who risk being a part of illegal narcotics smuggling.

Source: combinedmaritimeforces.com

Bags of Hashish onboard the captured Dhow

Operation King Crab عملية “كِينْك كراب” – (يعني “سلطعون الملك”)

Operation ‘King Crab’ led by CTF 151 has successfully ended using assets from 9 nations. It involved a concentrated effort over four days, with increased counter-piracy patrols, air reconnaissance and visits to merchant vessels and local dhows. Information sharing and boarding exercises also took place. Rear Admiral Yu said: “Ultimately we all have the same goal of promoting security and stability in the region to legitimate seafarers by defeating piracy. Operations such as ‘King Crab’, greatly increase our ability to do this.”

Source: combinedmaritimeforces.com

CTF151 Boat Crews approaching friendly Somali fishermen

Gunmen Abduct Two Persons In Rivers Community

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have invaded Amariari community in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State and kidnapped two persons, according to a report by PUNCH.

The gunmen, according to a source from the area, came into the community on Wednesday morning and forced themselves into some houses.

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Source: saharareporters.com

Ransom demand made for kidnapped fishermen

By STEPHANIE LEE

KOTA KINABALU: The family of one of three recently abducted Indonesians fishermen has received a ransom demand from their kidnappers.

Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said according to their Philippines counterparts, the kidnappers had made the call a few days after the Sept 23 incident.

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Source: thestar.com.my

The threat of Houthi unmanned explosives-laden boats

by Shay, Shaul (Dr.)

The Saudi-led coalition said it intercepted and destroyed an unmanned explosives-laden boat launched from Yemen by the Iran-aligned Houthi group on September 19, 2019, an incident that could further increase regional tensions after the attack on Saudi oil installations. Since 2017, in fact, there have been several reports of attacks or discovery of these unmanned explosive vessels in the country.

“The coalition’s naval forces detected an attempt by the terrorist Houthi militia backed by Iran to carry out an imminent act of aggression and terrorism south of the Red Sea using an unmanned, rigged boat … launched from Hodeidah province,” coalition spokesman Colonel Turki al-Malki said in a statement. Malki said that the foiled attack represented a threat to regional and international security and the safety of maritime routes and international trade. He did not specify the intended target.[1]

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Source: ict.org.il

Safety in the Red Sea corridor can’t be taken for granted

by Omar S Mahmood

The Red Sea and the adjacent Gulf of Aden face many potential threats to free movement, ranging from the presence of non-state armed groups (such as the Houthis in Yemen) and organised crime outfits, to ongoing territorial disputes and environmental concerns. Yet maritime traffic has largely gone undisrupted in recent years.

The hitherto safe passageway of the Red Sea should not be taken for granted though, and the area has attracted significant geopolitical interest. New initiatives concerned with the shared maritime space are being conceived, including a Red Sea Forum championed by Saudi Arabia and Egypt. The African Union (AU) and Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD) are also taking a greater interest. All these actors aim to address a perceived gap in management of the Red Sea space.

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Source: issafrica.org