We cover piracy, armed robbery at sea, IUU fishing, maritime cyber security and maritime security issues.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned 26
suspected pirates alongside a company, Sam Pam Nigeria Limited, and a
vessel, MV Neso II, before Justice Mohammed Liman of the federal high
court in Ikoyi.
The suspects were arraigned on two counts bordering on illegal dealing
in petroleum products.
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Source: saharareporters.com
Sept 17, Colombo: The Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) is currently conducting a specialized ship search and seizure training for the overseas Coast Guard personnel in partnership with the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, (UNODC), the Navy said.
A Visit Board Search & Seizure (VBSS) course for the boarding teams of Indonesian, Malaysian and Philippine Coast Guards commenced at the Special Boat Squadron (SBS) Headquarters in Trincomalee Monday (16th September 2019).
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Source: colombopage.com
By: Betymie Bonnelame and Rassin Vannier
(Seychelles News Agency) – Three out of five suspected pirates from Somalia who were transferred to Seychelles by EU NAVFOR last week were remanded until May 13 by the Supreme Court on Monday.
The EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta transferred the five suspects to Seychellois authorities after responding to piracy attacks on 21 April 2019, the local Department of Foreign Affairs said on Saturday.
The suspects were transported by Spanish flagship ESPS Navarra and transferred to Seychellois authorities in accordance with a transfer agreement between the Seychelles and the European Union with support from UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Only three out of the five Somali suspects appeared in court on Monday while the other two are receiving medical assistance after they were injured in the piracy attacks.
For humanitarian reasons, Operation Atalanta requested medical assistance from the Seychelles authorities for two of the suspects likely to have been wounded during the piracy attempts.
The case is being heard by Justice Laura Pillay, who remanded the suspects until May 13.
During the court session on Monday, a request was made for appropriate clothes for the detainees and a place for prayer as they are all Muslims.
According to the EU NAVFOR, the incident began on 19 April when five suspected pirates captured a Yemeni dhow off the coast of Somalia. Two days later the pirates attacked the Korean fishing vessel Adria with the dhow acting as a mothership in the Indian Ocean some 280 nautical miles off the coast of Somalia.
On April 23, the EU NAVFOR’s flagship ESPS NAVARRA successfully intercepted and boarded the captured dhow vessel and apprehended the five suspected pirates.
The forces said that this is the first notable piracy incident event since October of last year.
“This incident clearly demonstrates that piracy and armed robbery at sea, off the coast of Somalia, has not been eradicated,” said operation commander Rear Admiral Antonio Martorell.
He added that “the need for a strong maritime security presence in the High-Risk Area remains critical for the deterrence and prevention of future incidents and attacks.”
Source: seychellesnewsagency.com
The crew of the frigate ‘Navarra’ has carried out the device in the framework of the Atalanta mission; the operation is still open.
Spanish soldiers of the Navarra frigate have intercepted a pirate vessel and captured the crew, which in the previous days had attacked two ships -one of them, Spanish-. The episode took place on the morning of this Tuesday in the waters of the Indian Ocean , in the framework of the Atalanta operation of the European Union to fight against piracy. The device has culminated with the release of a Yemeni fisherman who had been kidnapped for four days.
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Source: maritimeherald.com
By Faustine Kapama
THE High Court in Dar es Salaam has sentenced seven Somali nationals to life imprisonment over piracy. Judge Yose Mlyambina meted the harsh sentence last week against Mohamed Adam, Bashir Rooble, Muhsini Haji, Abdulwaidi Abdalahamani, Faragani Abdul, Ally Nur Ally and Omar Mohamed, alias Mudhee after convicting them of the charges they were facing.
He took into consideration evidence by 14 prosecution witnesses and six documentary exhibits as well as the defence testimony by the accused.
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Source: allafrica.com
Operatives of the Nigerian Navy (NN) and their United States (US) counterparts have arrested 10 suspected pirates within the Nigerian end of the Gulf of Guinea (GoG).
The suspects, comprising three Greece, two Americans and five [others], were arrested onboard a logistic boat allegedly belonging to the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) on Sunday evening, by the crew that was on-board Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) CENTENARY for a joint operation codenamed ‘Junction Rain’.
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Source: thenationonlineng.net
Maritime Security News:
An interesting mix of nationalities in terms of a ‘pirate’ gang operating off Nigeria. The article notes that several Benelli rifles were recovered rather than the more standard and cheaper AK-47 and variants. Call me a skeptic, but I think these are gamekeepers rather than poachers…
Maritime Security News 