We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
Nike Popoola
Nigeria overtook Indonesia in global piracy incidents in the maritime sector, accounting for one out of every four reported cases in 2018, according to the latest report by Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty, a global corporate insurance carrier and a key business unit of Allianz Group.
The report also revealed that Nigeria’s port saw the highest number of reported cases of stowaways on commercial vessels.
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Some of shipping’s top stakeholders met on Friday at the London headquarters of the International Maritime Organization (IMO) to demand action to counter the dire piracy situation off the Gulf of Guinea, which is causing severe distress for seafarers who have to transit the region.
The event, co-sponsored by BIMCO, IMCA, ICS, ITF and OCIMF, drew members of the shipping community, flag states and agencies from the Gulf of Guinea.
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Anna Okon
Following the increasing rate of piracy and hijacking of the crew for ransom in Nigerian waters, especially in the Gulf of Guinea, Indian Directorate General of Shipping in Mumbai, has issued a restriction on all seafarers who are Indian nationals, banning them from working in vessels in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea.
In a circular sent to all shipping owners, shipping companies and other practitioners which was signed by the Director-General of Shipping in India, Capt Anish Joseph, the state reportedly observed that there was an increasing trend in the number of incidents taking place inside the various coastal states jurisdiction in the GoG.
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Source: punchng.com
By ELISHA BALA-GBOGBO
ABUJA (Bloomberg) — Just as Nigeria gets to grips with militants who brought the nation’s oil industry to its knees a few years ago, another group of longstanding foes are slowly making a comeback: thieves.
Saboteurs including thieves caused an 80% increase in the number of spills in 2018, Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the largest international producer in the West African country, said in a report last month. By contrast, there have been no militant-related halts to operations since 2016.
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The decision by the Federal Government to delay the implementation of the community engagement standards in Niger-Delta may have resulted in the spate of unwholesome activities in the region, an energy expert, Meka Olowola, has said.
He said the activities include pipeline vandalism, crude oil theft and other untoward practices in the region, adding that the development has slowed down oil production in Nigeria.
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Okafor Ofiebor
Port Harcourt – Suspected sea pirates on Monday attacked seafarers travelling on Port Harcourt-Bille waterways in Akuku-Toru Local Government Area of Rivers State, injuring scores of passengers and robbing them of money, goods worth millions of naira, including the hijacking of their Commercial boats.
A Bille Community leader, Adokiye Bibi, who confirmed the latest pirates’ attack also stated that between Saturday, June 1 to Tuesday June 4, over seven commercial boats have been attacked by sea pirates and hijacked from their owners.
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Source: pmnewsnigeria.com
Maritime Security News: The Nigerian authorities regularly complain that incidents of armed robbery on Delta waterways are wrongly described as incidents of piracy. Looks like the message hasn’t filtered through to the media…
Emma Yeomans
A Scottish oil worker held captive in Nigeria has been freed a month after armed men stormed his rig.
John Hiddleston, 65, was working on a rig in the Delta region when gunmen dragged him and two others, a Canadian and a Nigerian, into a swamp.
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Source: thetimes.co.uk
The Nigerian Navy has recruited 1,176 young men and women to aid the fight against sea pirates and oil bunkers in the nation’s maritime domain.
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Abayomi Olonisakin, stated this in a statement made available to The Tide shortly after the passing out parade of Batch 28, Basic Training School in Onne. He said the trainees underwent rigorous physical and mental training for seven months to prepare them for internal security operations across the country.
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Source: thetidenewsonline.com
By Desmond Ejibas
Bonny – The Nigerian Navy has called for more effective collaboration between security agencies and the people to tackle crime in Rivers.
The navy decried the upsurge in criminality across various communities and on waterways, express optimisms that it would be successful, if the residents were fully involved. Capt. Kolawole Oguntuga, the Commanding Officer, Forward Operating Base, Bonny, made the call on Thursday at the inauguration of a free medical outreach on Thursday in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers.
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Source: sundiatapost.com
By YUSUF BABALOLA
The federal government has lamented that insecurity on the nation’s maritime domain has deteriorated assuring that it is determined to stamp out all forms of insecurity such as piracy, sea robbery, kidnapping for ransom and oil theft, among others within the nation’s maritime domain.
The government said by January 2020, insecurity and maritime crime would be a thing of the past as it would begin a phased implementation of its new maritime security architecture.
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Source: leadership.ng
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