We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
The Federal High Court (FHC) Port Harcourt has convicted 3 of nine persons accused of hijacking an Equatorial Guinea flagged vessel on 21 March 2020.
Justice Ishaq Sani summarily convicted the accused on Counts 1 and 2 under the new Anti-Piracy Act 2019 and ordered them to pay a fine of N10 Million Naira each on each of the Counts.
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Source: tv360nigeria.com
As a result of the recent increase of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, governmental authorities of Bénin have taken pre-emptive measures to prevent such attacks in their territorial waters through a new decree, Concerning Means of Protection of Ships in the Territorial Waters of Bénin.
Any ship bound for a port in Bénin with an armed protection team on board, is required to send through its ship agent, a request for permission to enter Benin’s territorial waters with its own armed onboard protection team.
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Source: hellenicshippingnews.com
BW Offshore has revealed that all of its employees who were kidnapped from its Sendje Berge FPSO back in July have been safely released.
“The company would like to extend its gratitude to those involved in the safe release of everyone who was abducted from the FPSO Sendje Berge,” the company said in a statement posted on its website late last week.
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Source: rigzone.com
Armed pirates have reportedly kidnapped 13 seafarers from a Liberian-flagged product tanker in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa, continuing a rise in attacks on vessels in the world’s most dangerous piracy hot spot.
The Curcacao Trader was approached by eight armed individuals aboard a single speedboat and boarded 232 nautical miles southwest of Lagos, Friday, July 17, 2020. Among those abducted are seven Russian nationals, according to the Russian embassy in Nigeria. The other five crew members taken from the ship are believed to be Ukranian.
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Source: liberianobserver.com
By Sumaila Ogbaje
Abuja, Aug. 6, 2020 The Defence Headquarters says troops of Operation Delta Safe, discovered and deactivated 25 illegal refineries and impounded 342,000 litres of illegally refined AGO in the South-South in the last two weeks.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche, disclosed this while giving updates on military operations across on Thursday in Abuja.
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Source: naija247news.com
By U.S. Coast Guard 11th District Pacific Southwest Public Affairs
ALAMEDA, Calif. — The Coast Guard seized approximately 1,395 pounds of cocaine in late-July with an estimated value of $24 million from a go-fast vessel in international waters of the Pacific Ocean off Central America.
A maritime patrol aircraft spotted a suspected smuggling vessel and diverted the crew aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf (WMSL-750) to the go-fast vessel’s position.
Once on scene, Bertholf’s crew launched a small-Unmanned Aerial System (sUAS) to locate the suspected smugglers. After the suspected smugglers complied with orders to stop their boat, the Coast Guard crew boarded the vessel and discovered approximately 1,395 pounds of cocaine. Three suspected smugglers aboard the vessel were detained.
On April 1, U.S. Southern Command began enhanced counter-narcotics operations in the Western Hemisphere to disrupt the flow of drugs in support of Presidential National Security Objectives. Numerous U.S. agencies from the Departments of Defense, Justice and Homeland Security cooperated in the effort to combat transnational organized crime. The Coast Guard, Navy, Customs and Border Protection, FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, along with allied and international partner agencies, play a role in counter-drug operations.
The fight against drug cartels in the Eastern Pacific Ocean requires unity of effort in all phases from detection, monitoring and interdictions, to criminal prosecutions by international partners and U.S. Attorneys’ Offices in districts across the nation. The law enforcement phase of counter-smuggling operations in the Eastern Pacific Ocean is conducted under the authority of the 11th Coast Guard District, headquartered in Alameda. The interdictions, including the actual boardings, are led and conducted by members of the U.S. Coast Guard.
The Coast Guard Cutter Bertholf, homeported in Alameda, was commissioned in 2008.
Source: content.govdelivery.com
The Defence Headquarters says the troops of Operation DELTA SAFE on Tuesday in Bayelsa State raided pirates and militants’ camp sand Kidnappers’ hideouts, eliminating six criminals.
The Coordinator, Defence Media Operations, Major General John Enenche, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
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Source: theeagleonline.com.ng
By Chiemelie Ezeobi
Chiemelie Ezeobi writes that the recently flagged off Exercise Calm Waters 11 has recorded some gains in tackling the resurgence of militancy and sea robbery off Nigerian waters, up to the Exclusive Economic Zone
Violent attacks against ships and their crews have risen in 2020, with global figure of 77 seafarers taken hostage or kidnapped for ransom since January. This was disclosed by the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest piracy report.
According to the bureau, the Gulf of Guinea (GoG), off West Africa is increasingly dangerous for commercial shipping, accounting for just over 90 per cent of maritime kidnappings worldwide. Meanwhile ship hijackings are at their lowest since 1993.
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Source: allafrica.com
Security professionals in the Gulf of Guinea know that if they want to spot criminals in the open water, the best place to look is along a maritime border.
Historically, this has been the space where pirates, illegal fishermen and traffickers felt safest knowing that, if confronted, they could flee into another country’s waters.
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Source: defenceweb.co.za
By Rebecca Ejifoma
The Nigerian Navy yesterday disclosed that it has deployed eight of its warships and two fighter jets to tackle cases of insecurity in the country’s territorial waters.
It said the deployment is part of a 30-day sea operations tagged: ‘Okun Alaafia II’, a Yoruba word for ‘calm water’ II, which it said is aimed at checking illegalities around the country’s waters.
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Source: allafrica.com
Maritime Security News 