We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
By Bonita Ermac
ZAMBOANGA CITY – The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP)-Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) hosted the Indonesia-Malaysia-Philippines Trilateral Security Conference at the Garden Orchid Hotel here, Thursday, March 5.
Representatives from the AFP general headquarters, their Indonesian and Malaysian counterparts, and the top WesMinCom officers and its subordinate units joined in the activity.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: news.mb.com.ph
SULU: The Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) bloated in Zamboanga City is checking the veracity that the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) has demanded PHP5 million ransom in exchange for the release of the physician they seized in Jolo, Sulu.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Westmincom chief, reiterated the government’s “no ransom policy” in addressing the abduction of Dr Daniel Moreno by the ASG bandits. ASG bandits took Moreno on February 4 from his clinic cum residence in Barangay Walled City, Jolo.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: dailyexpress.com.my
The Department of State is pleased to announce that the United States and the Republic of Gabon have assumed the co-secretariat of the Friends of Gulf of Guinea, also known as the FoGG, for calendar year 2020.
Working together, we will promote unimpeded global commerce and freedom of navigation; strengthen sustainable marine ecosystems, including fish stocks and related seafood supply chains; and enhance maritime governance in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Gulf of Guinea is vital for the shipment of goods, but it is also a rich marine ecosystem that millions of Africans depend on for their livelihoods. We welcome the active participation of all the regional coastal states to make progress in these critical areas.
Source: state.gov
The 2006-built 51,000 dwt product tanker Minerva Virgo, owned by Greek owner Minerva Marine, was attacked by pirates off Cotonou, Benin in the Gulf of Guinea yesterday.
Maritime security consultants Ambrey reported in an advisory notice that the vessel has been attacked and boarded by pirates while it was en route from the Netherlands to Lagos, Nigeria. Ambrey described the incident as ongoing and strongly advises vessels to respond accordingly.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: splash247.com
MarsecNews: The original incident alert from MDAT-GoG contained few details, but there have been suggestions that one crew member may have been kidnapped, although this has not been verified.
By Tony Orilade
EFCC Arraigns Bunkerers, Vessel for Illegal Oil Deal The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, arraigned four suspected criminals and a vessel before Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a three-count charge bordering on illegal dealing in petroleum products.
The defendants, Ukwuoma Ahamefula, Omeogor Nelson, Efemuaya Evans and Jude Eghreriniovo, were arrested alongside a vessel, MV Tim Begele, by the Nigerian Navy and subsequently handed over to the EFCC for prosecution.
One of the counts reads: “That you, MV Tim Begele, Ukwuoma Ahamefula, Omeogor Nelson, Efemuaya Evans, Jude Eghreriniovo and others now at large on the 3rd of December, 2019, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired among yourselves to commit an offence to wit: dealing in 3,911 metric tons of petroleum products without appropriate licence; and you, thereby, committed an offence contrary to Section 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under Section 1(17) of the same Act.”
They pleaded “not guilty” to the charge preferred against them.
In view of their pleas, counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, prayed the court for a trial date and also asked that the defendants be remanded in Nigerian Correctional Services, NCS.
Counsel for the defendants, Peter Atabo, prayed the Court for a short date to enable the hearing of his clients’ applications for bail.
Consequently, Justice Liman adjourned the matter until April 1, 2020 for hearing and also ordered the defendants to be remanded in the NCS.
Source: prnigeria.com
Yaroslav Mudry guard ship will search for a notional enemy’s submarine with a Ka-27 helicopter’s take-off while the anti-terror squads on the ships and vessels will practice various scenarios of fighting pirates in the Indian Ocean
MOSCOW, March 4. /TASS/. The Baltic Fleet guard ship Yaroslav Mudry has made a planned business call at the port of Colombo in Sri Lanka in its anti-piracy deployment to the Indian Ocean, the Fleet’s press office reported on Wednesday.
“During its anchorage in Colombo, the crew will replenish fresh water, fuel and food supplies and technically inspect the ship. After completing its visit that will last through March 6, the Baltic Fleet guard ship will continue its anti-piracy watch in the Indian Ocean,” the press office said in a statement.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: lankaweb.com
KUNAK: Sabah police have cast a dragnet to detain the remaining ‘lookouts’ working hand-in-glove with kidnap-for-ransom groups (KFRG) in the Eastern Sabah Safety Zone (ESSzone).
Eastern Sabah Security Command (ESScom) Commander Datuk Hazani Ghazali said ‘Ops Gasak’ was launched to address the threats identified and which frequently occur in the hot spot areas of ESSzone.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: theborneopost.com
By Godfrey Bivbere
STAKEHOLDERS in the maritime industry have raised an alarm over high-level of smuggling through operations at the various private jetties scattered across the nation’s waterfront, even as they warmed about the security implication of an unregulated operations at these facilities.
Private jetties are licensed by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA; the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA; and the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, making effective regulation complicated.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: vanguardngr.com
Tradewinds today (March 4th) reports that two tankers and a LNG carrier took evasive action off the coast of Yemen to avoid a ‘cluster of suspicious skiffs’. One vessel reported an approach to around 130m, but none of the vessels was attacked.
The news comes during a period of apparent increased suspicious activity in the region, with reports of approaches off Djibouti and in the IRTC in the Gulf of Aden at the end of February, as well as the beginning of March.
So far, no agency is identifying the incidents as piracy-related, given that no obvious piracy ‘tripwires’ were reported (these would include sightings of weapons, ladders and so on). The news will not please the shipping industry, given the peace enjoyed by seafarers off the Somali coast in recent years.
Despite the fall in piracy, the nature of threats in the region continues to evolve, with rebels allied to the al Houthi cause threatening Saudi coalition vessels in the Red Sea, and the news that naval mines have been seen in the region; one report recently suggested that three fishing vessel crew were killed by a mine in early February.
Nigerian pirates recently released eight seafarers held for almost a month in captivity under terrible conditions. Two of the hostages were Filipinos — one of whom was badly wounded and was almost left for dead. He gives details to The Manila Times regarding his desperate struggle for life and survival along with other foreign seafarers who were held captive in the jungles of Nigeria.
“I was unconscious and bloodied all over. No one knew where I was hit, but my mates knew for certain that I was barely clinging to life,” says John “Pope” Estinoco, an Ordinary Seaman for MT Happy Lady.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: manilatimes.net
Maritime Security News 