We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Piracy in the waters off West Africa threatens plans to bolster regional trade, Ghana’s defence minister warned Wednesday, as navy chiefs discussed efforts to secure the troubled waters.
The Gulf of Guinea is the most dangerous stretch of sea for pirate attacks in the world, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
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Source: theeastafrican.co.ke
Suspected sea pirates have attacked and killed two soldiers at an oil flow station located at Azagbene community in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State.
According to reports, the suspected sea pirates struck on Monday night, leaving two soldiers dead, one other missing. They carted away their riffles.
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Source: shipsandports.com.ng
After a week of efforts and nervous waiting, contact was reportedly established with the pirates who kidnapped 10 Turkish sailors off Nigeria, as four others remain in the hands of ransom-seeking criminals in the country.
On July 16, 10 Turkish sailors were abducted in the Gulf of Guinea when pirates attacked Turkish-flagged ship Paksoy-1 bound to Abidjan in Ivory Coast from Douala in Cameroon. Out of the ship’s 18 crew members, eight were left on the ship, which was docked in the port of Tema in Ghana.
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Source: dailysabah.com
The Ghana Navy is in hot pursuit of pirates who hijacked a vessel from the Tema anchorage and proceeded towards Togolese waters but abandoned the operation midway.
The Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command Commodore, James Kontoh, said this shortly after a Ghana Navy operation rescued five persons, one of them a Ghanaian, from the abandoned vessel. The daredevil hijack mission started with a fishing vessel going missing from the Tema anchorage, having been taken away by the suspected Nigerian pirates who abandoned it later on the Keta high seas.The Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command Commodore, James Kontoh, said this shortly after a Ghana Navy operation rescued five persons, one of them a Ghanaian, from the abandoned vessel.
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Source: ghanaweb.com
BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME
WARRI: SHELL has enjoined stakeholders in the Niger Delta to vigorously campaign against attack on oil crude oil facilities, stressing that effort should be made to save the environment from impact of oil pollution.
General Manager External Relatons, Igo Weli made the appeal in Warri, Delta state at the media launch of the 2019 edition of Shell in Nigeria briefing notes, adding that the oil giant was committed to improving quality of life in its areas of operations.
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Source: vanguardngr.com
Olaleye Aluko
The Nigerian Navy said on Thursday that it had deployed all its units in the creeks and backwaters of Niger Delta to rescue 10 abducted Turkish sailors on MV Paksoy 1 vessel attacked by pirates.
The navy said the vessel was intercepted around 8.30am on Monday by the Ghana Navy Ship, EHWOR, and escorted to the Tema Port in Ghana. The Navy Director of Information, Commodore Suleman Dahun, stated these in a statement on Thursday.
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Source: punchng.com
Olaleye Aluko
The Nigerian Navy has traced the cargo ship on which 10 Turkish sailors were abducted to Ghana, saying rescue efforts were ongoing to bring back the sailors.
The navy said the vessel was at a Ghanaian port while it was working with sister navies to unravel the circumstances around the abduction of the Turkish sailors. The Turkish sailors were reported on Tuesday to have been kidnapped for ransom by armed men off the coast of Nigeria.
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Source: punchng.com
Philip Nwosu
In 2015, the Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas launched the force’s strategic directive 2015-1, aimed at providing security in the maritime sector, ensure effective monitoring of the nation’s waterways and sustain its effort to maintain credible presence at sea.
After four years, the Nigerian Navy says it has been able to effectively police the nation’s waterways and ensure that the maritime sector is safe.
According to the Nigerian Navy, it has impounded and destroyed illegally refined crude oil valued at N8.4 billion between January and June 2019. The navy has destroyed and impounded 131,085.06 barrels of crude oil and about 29,612,202 litres of illegally refined products during its anti-crude oil theft campaign. It also destroyed 227 illegal refineries, 2,688 storage facilities, 364 wooden boats and impounded 11 barges and 32 vessels.
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Source: sunnewsonline.com
The Speaker of Parliament, Prof. Aaron Mike Oquaye has charged the Ghana Navy to step up security along Ghana’s coast.
He said Ghana’s oil sites are sea-based, hence exposes the country to various criminal threats. The Speaker cited issues that are associated with the increase in crime on the shores of oil-rich countries.
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Source: ghanaweb.com
A group of 10 Turkish sailors has been kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Nigeria, reportedly for ransom.
The Paksoy-1 was sailing from Cameroon to Ivory Coast when the pirates boarded the ship in the Gulf of Guinea.
It was not carrying freight and eight sailors managed to escape. Turkey says it is working to secure the release of those seized.
The International Maritime Bureau says the Gulf of Guinea is the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy.
Ömer Çelik, spokesman for Turkey’s ruling AK Party, said the ministry was following the case closely and “working on it”.
Numan Paksoy, operations manager at Kadıoğlu Maritime, said about “12 pirates with heavy guns” had attacked the boat.
Crew members hid in a safe room – the citadel – when the pirates boarded the ship, but emerged after “the assailants threatened to burn the ship and kill all of them”, he told the BBC in an emailed statement.
The attackers then picked 10 sailors and let the other eight go, he added.
73% of all sea kidnappings and 92% of hostage-takings occur in the Gulf of Guinea off Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
Recently, the organisation has noted “a welcome and marked decrease” in attacks in the region due to an increase in Nigerian Navy patrols.
Twenty-one incidents have been recorded around Nigeria so far this year, compared to 31 in the same period of 2018.
Source: bbc.co.uk
Maritime Security News 