Combating maritime piracy in Benin: the port of Cotonou takes 10 measures to strengthen the protection of ships on stopover

Romuald Ngueyap

(Ecofin Agency) – The autonomous port of Cotonou (PAC) wants to reassure its customers by strengthening security. In a circular note dated Tuesday 21 January 2020, CAP Director General Joris Albert Thys issued ten (10) measures to strengthen the protection of ships in the harbour against piracy.

Addressed to marine agents, ship consignors, handlers and shipowners, these measures include, among other things, the requirement for each vessel to have a marine agent, the allocation of a holding post for any vessel. depending on availability and the boarding of the required armed guard and free of charge for any ship to stay at the anchorage in Cotonou harbour.

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Source: agenceecofin.com

House Committee report ‘indicts’ NIMASA, Navy

By Muyiwa Lucas

The House of Representatives report of the Ad-hoc Committee to determine why the Warri, Port Harcourt, Onne, Calabar and Onitsha Ports complexes are not being put to maximal use has concluded its findings.

In a 16-page report, the 17- member committee blamed the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy for not providing adequate security to vessels and cargoes going to the ports in the zone.

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Source: thenationonlineng.net

Ship attacked in the morning Jan 21, Nigeria

Mikhail Voytenko

UPDATE: Clearwater Dynamics shared its’ information with Maritime Bulletin, not disclosing ship’s name, but there was no other container ship in the vicinity, fitting into time and position, except MSC GRACE. The ship is deployed on container service connecting Gulf of Guinea States, so no wonder she has armed guards on board. As of 1630 UTC Jan 21, the ship was sailing in Bonny area, heading towards Port Harcourt.

Clearwater Dynamics Alert:
Nigeria
It has been reported that a container ship has been attacked whilst underway approximately 45nm West Southwest of Brass, Nigeria. A black speedboat with a white flag and 15 armed pirates onboard, fired upon the vessel and then moved away. The Nigerian authorities have been notified. UPDATE: It has been confirmed that the container ship did have an onboard security team, who returned fire which resulted in the pirates aborting their attack. During this incident the crew retreated to the Citadel.

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Source: maritimebulletin.net

West Africa piracy: Regional navies work to curb maritime crime

West African states to discuss tackling piracy as region prepares for oil, gas discovered in Senegal, Mauritania waters.

by Nicolas Haque

The Gulf of Guinea is now one of the world’s most dangerous places for piracy as the number of ships hijacked there has more than doubled in the past year.

So West African states are meeting to ensure they can tackle the growing challenge in advance of the expected surge in oil and gas flows after reserves were discovered off Senegal and Mauritania’s waters.

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Source: aljazeera.com

West African pirates hijacking larger vessels to maximise ransom returns

Michelle Wiese Bockmann

INSURERS are making ransom payments to West African gangs of $30,000 to $50,000 per kidnapped crew member, amid warnings that changing piracy tactics have placed vessels at risk of increasingly violent attacks in the Gulf of Guinea over coming months.

Stephen Askins, a London-based maritime lawyer who specialises in piracy, says Nigerian pirate gangs are now “maximising returns” by seeking to seize larger vessels in order to abduct higher numbers of crew. The spotlight is now on the Nigerian navy’s response, he said.

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Source: lloydslist.maritimeintelligence.informa.com

Duke Crew Released by Pirates, One Died in Captivity

Following the attack on the oil tanker MT Duke and abduction of 20 crew members on December 15, U.K.-based shipowner Union Maritime has issued a statement confirming that 19 of the crew members have now been released.

One able seaman was evidently taken ill and died shortly after capture. Union Maritime said in a statement: “We are seeking further information from those crew members that have been released and a full investigation will be held into the AB’s demise.”

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Source: maritime-executive.com

Rise of pirates in the Caribbean

By Rinsy Xieng

While pirates are becoming rarer off the Horn of Africa, particularly in Somalia, since warships patrolled the area, the number of acts of piracy and robbery is steadily increasing, with a sharp upsurge in Caribbean. For example, 28 events were recorded in 2019 off the island of Grenada, compared to only 3 the previous year. In the West Indies, it is mainly pleasure boats that are targeted.

Boaters and merchant ships

Pirates no longer hesitate to board large vessels, such as merchant vessels, even though the palm goes back to the Gulf of Guinea, where almost a third of the attacks took place there according to the report of the MICA Center, the center of expertise French Maritime Safety, which has just published its annual report. In 2019, for example, the organization recorded 360 events related to piracy and robbery. This figure has been stable for four years but less than it was 10 years ago.

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Source: rci.fm

Oil bunkering: Navy hands over 57 Nigerians, 7 Sri-Lankans, 2 Ghanaians to EFCC

Ndubuisi Ugah

The war against oil bunkering and sea pirates received a major boost yesterday when the Nigerian Navy (NN) handed over 57 Nigerians, seven Sri- Lankans and two Ghanaians, suspected to be involved in oil bunkering, to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) also reports that the seven vessels, involved in the oil bunkering and having no valid approval, were arrested by the Nigerian Navy between December 3 and 30, 2019. While addressing journalists, after the handing over to the EFCC, the Commandant of NN ship, NNS BEECROFT, Commodore Ibrahim Shettima, said the nation would have lost N906,250, 000, if the culprits had been successful in their operation.

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Source: newtelegraphng.com

Why Pirates Are Giving Up On Oil

By Julianne Geiger

Piracy in some of the world’s most critical oil chokepoints is on the rise–but now, pirates are resorting back to another method of income generation better suited to times of lower oil prices: taking human captives.

Sometimes, black market oil prices just aren’t lucrative enough. In the days of $100 oil, oil theft was a hot commodity. Today, pirates are supplementing their stolen oil income with ransomed sailors, creating a whole new set of problems for the oil industry to tackle.

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Source: oilprice.com

Four Dead, Three Kidnapped in Nigerian Pirate Attack

International maritime security consultancy Dryad Maritime reports that the Nigerian-flagged hopper dredger Ambika was boarded by pirates after a firefight resulting in multiple loss of life.

According to Dryad, the Ambika was attacked while operating just offshore, about three nm from the mouth of the Ramos river and about nine nm to the east of the Forcados offshore oil terminal. A firefight broke out between the embarked security team on the Ambika and the pirates.

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Source: maritime-executive.com