We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
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
MOSCOW, Russia – Moscow on Sunday, September 22, said 3 Russian seamen abducted in an act of piracy off the coast of Cameroon in August have been freed and brought to Germany.
The Russians were part of a group of sailors, including Chinese and Ukrainian citizens, taken hostage in mid-August after an attack on their merchant ships in the Gulf of Guinea. In a statement, the Russian foreign ministry said they were “released from pirate captivity” and that their health was “satisfactory.”
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Source: rappler.com
Along with Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan – who is said to be the leader of the Islamic State in the Philippines – a female named Almaida Marani Salvin is also included on the United States’ blacklist
MANILA, Philippines – The United States has added Abu Sayyaff sub-leader Hatib Hajan Sawadjaan, who is said to be the leader of the Islamic State (ISIS) in the Philippines, to its list of global terrorists.
Along with Sawadjaan, a female named Almaida Marani Salvin was also included in the US Treasury’s sanctions blacklist. Salvin was said to have “materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support ” to ISIS-Philippines.
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Source: rappler.com
Yaoundé (AFP) – Asian and European seamen were kidnapped Thursday aboard a vessel in the Gulf of Guinea off the southern Cameroon port of Douala, a senior Cameroonian navy source said.
“(They) were abducted this morning,” said the source, who gave no details about the number or nationality of the kidnap victims. “The kidnappers are probably Nigerian pirates,” the source said. “Cameroonian forces have launched search operations.”
MSM Note: Some media sources have stated that Cameroonian naval personnel were also abducted during the attack.
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Source: news.yahoo.com
KOTA KINABALU: Curfew in the waters off seven districts in the Eastern Sabah Security Zone (ESSZone) which ends tomorrow will be extended until Aug 24.
Sabah Police Commissioner Datuk Omar Mammah said the curfew from 6pm to 6am covers the waters of Tawau, Semporna, Kunak, Lahad Datu, Kinabatangan, Sandakan and Beluran.
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Anna Okon
Worried about the charges imposed on Nigeria as war risks for piracy attacks, the Nigerian Shippers’ Council is set to convene a meeting with the Global Shippers Forum to discuss the issue.
The Executive Secretary, NSC, Mr Hassan Bello, who made this known, said the charges were too high and most times unwarranted. Nigeria has been in the news in the past few years for the frequency of piracy attacks.
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Source: punchng.com
A Ghanaian mariner, Jewel Ahiagble, who worked on contract as an Electrical Engineer on a vessel which was hijacked by Somali pirates for about 1000 days in 2009, has survived narrowly to give a harrowing account of the voyage.
Opening up for the first time since the crew’s rescue in 2012, Mr. Ahiagble recounted the chilling tale of torture, violent abuses, deaths, anxiety and trauma to host Winston Amoah on the #RoadtoGlory segment of 3FM’s Sunrise.
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Source: ghanaweb.com
ASIA – AFRICA – Although the rash of serious pirate attacks off the Somalian coast which we reported on almost a daily basis in the years leading up to 2017 have since diminished, that does not mean the seas of the world are now always a safe place to ply one’s trade. It was a concentrated, internationally coordinated policy of increased naval surveillance which managed to largely control the hijacking of container ships and tankers in the Indian Ocean, but elsewhere every day brings the risk of assault on the innocent.
The Information Fusion Centre (IFC) is a division of the Indian Navy and its semi-annual report for South East Asia shows the state of play in the region. What should be made clear here is that the vast bulk of incidents worldwide are not truly ‘piracy’. To qualify for that title the vessel being assaulted must be at sea, therefore only one true pirate attack has taken place recently according to the IFC, that of the South Korean flagged bulk carrier CK Bluebell on July 22 near the Singapore Strait which passes Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore.
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Source: handyshippingguide.com
The Gulf of Guinea is a hub of illegal activities resulting in tremendous threats to global trade and security. It is the most dangerous stretch of sea for pirate attacks over the planet. To overcome the challenge, a two-day International Maritime Defence Exhibition and Conference took place in Ghana’s capital, Accra. It attracted experts from various countries who discussed the issues of armed robbery and piracy and the solutions. The conference focused on dealing with multiple security-related issues like piracy, illegal fishing, abducting for ransom, illegal oil bunkering and drug trafficking in the Gulf of Guinea.
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Source: devdiscourse.com
By Samson Echenim
Despite a running $195 million maritime security contract awarded to Israeli firm, Messrs HLSI Security Systems and Technologies by the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, Nigeria is seeing growing incidences of piracy attacks and vessel hijacking.
The situation has led to shipping companies now spending millions of dollars in providing security onboard the vessels while in Nigerian waters.
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Source: businessamlive.com
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