We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Seven crew aboard a supply ship for the oil industry in Equatorial Guinea were kidnapped when “pirates” attacked their vessel, the oil and gas ministry said in a statement on Friday.
The US oil giant ExxonMobil reported that the supply ship Warden, which it was chartering from the oil services firm Swire, was attacked on Wednesday in the country’s territorial waters, it said.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: heraldlive.co.za
by Craig Jallal
Tanker operators facing calculated intimidation, passive aggression, indirect and direct attacks on vessels and bare-faced denial – welcome to the Middle East Gulf
The Middle East Gulf has never been a haven for tanker operators. The intense heat, coupled with the high traffic density, makes the Straits of Hormuz one of the most difficult chokepoints to navigate. Throw in the traditional religious and secular enmities and it has been a minefield (often literally) to navigate.
And while those minefields of the 1980s may have gone, their replacements – limpet mines, drones, fast attack boats and GPS spoofing of navigation systems – hardly give cause to celebrate. The timeline below shows the progression of incidents in the region during 2019, peaking with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) boarding the British-flagged tanker MR2 product tanker Stena Impero. The tanker has since been released and as at the middle of November 2019, the situation has calmed somewhat.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: rivieramm.com
By SULEMAN DAHUN
The Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok-Ete Ibas has directed naval commands to ensure that recently arrested vessels are processed and handed over to appropriate prosecuting agencies not later than 15 December 2019.
Addressing Principal Staff Officers, Flag Officers Commanding and Commanders of autonomous naval commands, Vice Admiral Ibas directed these units to work closely with zonal offices of prosecuting agencies and inform the Naval Headquarters and headquarters of such agencies of the handing over process.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: prnigeria.com
A coalition of civil society groups has urged the National Assembly to revisit probe on the ceding of Nigerian Coastal Waterways to a questionable private firm.
In a petition to the lawmakers, the group disclosed that the contract was awarded to HSLI security firm and technologies at the cost of 195 millon dollars. Correspondent Habidah Lawal reports that the 195 million dollars maritime security contract was signed off by the Federal Executive Council in December 2017.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: tvcnews.tv
Elo Edremoda
About 11 communities in Burutu and Bomadi council areas of Delta State are reportedly under serious attacks by pirates. The communities, in a save-our-soul message to President Muhammadu Buhari, claimed that efforts to get the intervention of the local and state governments, as well as security operatives, have received no response.
According to them, the hoodlums who patrol the creeks daily, have held the communities under siege for over three months, maiming, stealing and raping their women.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
Okungbowa Aiwerie
THERE is tension in Ekogbene community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State after suspected pirates and cult gangs blew up a community leader’s home.
The Nation gathered that the attack was to cow the community leadership. A source said no life was lost as the chairman and his family were outside during the attack.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
Precious Igbonwelundu
Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday flagged off Exercise Crocodile Smile IV with a charge to security agencies to flush pipeline vandals, pirates, kidnappers and armed robbers out of the state.
He declared the exercise open shortly after watching a beach landing and counter terrorism simulation at the Takwa Bay Island in Iru-Victoria Island Local Council Development Area (LCDA).
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: thenationonlineng.net
What Happened: A wave of persistent and sophisticated attacks against Nigeria’s Nembe Creek Trunkline pipeline has severely affected the operating firm’s ability to transport and export oil, according to a company spokesman, Sweet Crude Exports reported Nov. 17. He added that the pipeline has been shut down for 61 days so far in 2019 and that total losses over the year amounted to nearly 2 million barrels of oil.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: worldview.stratfor.com
More military equipment will be deployed in Sulu to help ground forces defeat Abu Sayyaf bandits and neutralize foreign terrorists hiding on the island.
Armed Forces chief Gen. Noel Clement announced during his visit to the Western Mindanao Command last week the acquisition for the Light Armor Battalion of additional C-130s and the arrival of a C295 personnel transport plane, attack helicopters, a Navy warship and armored tanks, which are equipped with sophisticated weapon systems that can hit long-range targets, Lt. Gen. Cirilito Sobejana, Westmincom chief, said.
To continue reading, please click here.
Source: philstar.com
By Dirk Siebels
The Bonita had been anchored off Benin for several days, waiting for a berth in the port of Cotonou. On November 2, 2019 the crew had a traumatic awakening. Armed men boarded the vessel and kidnapped nine crew members. Only two days later, four seafarers were kidnapped from the Elka Aristotle, which was anchored off Lomé in neighbouring Togo.
Unfortunately, these were not the only attacks off the coast of West Africa in which seafarers were kidnapped. Nevertheless, the patterns are changing, with gradual signs of improvement. In addition, attacker success rates in the region have declined from 80% over ten years ago to just under 50% in 2018.
To continue reading (and you should, because Dirk knows this subject), please click here.
Source: econotimes.com
Maritime Security News 