We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
ZAMBOANGA CITY — Government troops rescued an Indonesian fisherman, the last captive of the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) in the province of Sulu, a top military official said Thursday.
Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Western Mindanao Command (Westmincom) chief, identified the rescued Indonesian fisherman as Muhammad Farhan, 27, who was rescued around 6:45 p.m. Wednesday in Barangay Bato-Bato, Indanan, Sulu.
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Source: pna.gov.ph
A Port Harcourt based seafarer, Onmonya Udeh, has appealed to the Federal Government to equip the Nigerian Navy and the Marine Police to tackle piracy in the nation’s waterways.
Udeh lamented that pirates were armed with more sophisticated weapons than the Navy and the Marine police, thereby posing serious threats to the lives of mariners and passengers.
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Source: thetidenewsonline.com
The House of Representatives Committee on Ports and Harbours says it will soon organise a nationwide security summit to tackle acts of insecurity in the nation’s ports.
The committee also decried the spate of piracy in the nation’s waterways and abduction of crew members of vessels coming to Eastern ports.
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Source: thetidenewsonline.com
SINGAPORE – Senior military leaders from Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia will meet on Wednesday (Jan 15) to discuss ways to combat the recent spike in sea robberies in the Singapore Strait.
The two-day 14th Malacca Straits Patrol Joint Coordinating Committee Meeting, hosted by the Republic of Singapore Navy (RSN), will be co-chaired by representatives of the four littoral states, the Ministry of Defence (Mindef) said in a statement on Wednesday.
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Source: straitstimes.com
A total of 82 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships (comprising 71 actual incidents and 11 attempted incidents) were reported in Asia in 2019. This accounts for a 8% increase in the total number of incidents and a 15% increase in the actual incidents reported in 2019 compared to 2018. In 2018, 76 incidents (comprising 62 actual incidents and 14 attempted incidents) were reported. Majority of the incidents reported in 2019 were armed robbery against ships. Of the 82 incidents reported in 2019, two were incidents of piracy, and 80 were incidents of armed robbery against ships.
There was improvement at some ports and anchorages in Asia in 2019 compared to 2018. The improvement occurred in Bangladesh and Indonesia. In Bangladesh, no incident was reported at its ports and anchorages in 2019 compared to 11 incidents in 2018. In Indonesia, the number of incidents at its ports and anchorages decreased to 23 incidents in 2019 from 27 incidents in 2018.
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Source: recaap.org
MarsecNews Note: To get the full picture of global piracy, figures from both the ReCAAP and IMB need to be collated along with those from UKMTO and other agencies.
By Godwin Oritse
AGAINST the backdrop of the increased incidents of sea piracy in Nigeria’s waters late last year, the leadership of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has indicated that the Agency is being equipped to bring down the rate of attacks in 2020. It also expressed disappointment and embarrassment at the recent upsurge in the spate of attacks.
Speaking in Lagos, weekend, the Director General of NIMASA, Dakuku Peterside, however, restated the agency’s commitment and determination to ensure that the country’s territorial waters was free of piracy and all forms of maritime crime in 2020 to further boost investment opportunities in the blue economy.
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Source: vanguardngr.com
The Nigerian Navy Ship Delta (NNS Delta), on Monday, January 13, 2020 handed over a motor vessel, MV Salvation and its nine crew members to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Benin Zonal Office, whom she arrested for their alleged involvement in illegal oil bunkering.
The suspects are: Tamuno Abereniboye, John Gwuene, Simon President, Nice Bien, Daniel Aghovwieokpo, Prince Ogun, Jabu Kimidengiyefa, Daniel People, Olawale Bello.
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Source: prnigeria.com
The Federal Government loses over $7 billion on freight cost yearly to criminal activities on the nation’s territorial waters, the former President, Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA), Prince Olayiwola Shittu, has said.
He called on the government to put in place measures to stem the tide of criminalities on the territorial waters.
Shittu, who spoke with The Nation on the sideline of a stakeholders forum organised by some auto importers in Lagos, added that the Federal Government needs to invest in maritime security and local capacity development to reduce piracy on the nation’s waters and get a sizeable chunk of the over $7 billion of the yearly freight cost.
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Source: thenationonlineng.net
Despite overall piracy incidents declining in 2019, there was an alarming increase in crew kidnappings across the Gulf of Guinea, according to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) annual piracy report.
In 2019, IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre received 162 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide, in comparison to 201 reported incidents in 2018. The incidents included four hijacked vessels, 11 vessels fired upon, 17 attempted attacks, and 130 vessels boarded, according to the latest IMB figures. While the overall decline in piracy incidents is an encouraging development, vessels remain at risk in several regions, especially the Gulf of Guinea.
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Source: iccwbo.org
Philip Nwosu
Miffed by the audacity of some pipeline vandals in Lagos, operatives of the Nigerian Navy working under the Defence headquarters operations to clear the Lagos and Ogun areas of vandals, have shut down over 300 illegal oil wells in the Atlas Cove area of Lagos.
The wells, it was gathered, were dug above the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) pipelines transporting imported petroleum product from Atlas Cove to the Mosomi depot of the organization.
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Source: sunnewsonline.com
Maritime Security News 