Chinese cargo ship attacked, boarded in Gulf of Guinea UPDATE crew safe

Mar 9: General cargo ship HUANGHAI GLORY reached Lagos anchorage on Mar 7, escorted by Nigerian Navy patrol boat or ship. When pirates boarded the ship, crew mustered in citadel, and was locked there until, at last, Nigerian patrol boat approached the ship on Mar 6, and pirates fled. Crew cabins and service compartments, no doubt, were looted. Nigerian patrol boat was at the scene more than 24 hours after the alert, and attacked ship was in just 2-3 hours sailing time distance from Lagos. This is not the first case, when sheltered in citadel crew had to wait for help for 24+ hours.

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Source: maritimebulletin.net

The United States and Gabon Assume the Co-Secretariat of the Friends of Gulf of Guinea

The Department of State is pleased to announce that the United States and the Republic of Gabon have assumed the co-secretariat of the Friends of Gulf of Guinea, also known as the FoGG, for calendar year 2020.

Working together, we will promote unimpeded global commerce and freedom of navigation; strengthen sustainable marine ecosystems, including fish stocks and related seafood supply chains; and enhance maritime governance in the Gulf of Guinea.

The Gulf of Guinea is vital for the shipment of goods, but it is also a rich marine ecosystem that millions of Africans depend on for their livelihoods. We welcome the active participation of all the regional coastal states to make progress in these critical areas.

Source: state.gov

Minerva Marine tanker attacked by pirates off Benin

Jason Jiang

The 2006-built 51,000 dwt product tanker Minerva Virgo, owned by Greek owner Minerva Marine, was attacked by pirates off Cotonou, Benin in the Gulf of Guinea yesterday.

Maritime security consultants Ambrey reported in an advisory notice that the vessel has been attacked and boarded by pirates while it was en route from the Netherlands to Lagos, Nigeria. Ambrey described the incident as ongoing and strongly advises vessels to respond accordingly.

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Source: splash247.com

MarsecNews: The original incident alert from MDAT-GoG contained few details, but there have been suggestions that one crew member may have been kidnapped, although this has not been verified.

EFCC Arraigns Bunkerers, Vessel for Illegal Oil Deal

By Tony Orilade

EFCC Arraigns Bunkerers, Vessel for Illegal Oil Deal The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Wednesday, March 4, 2020, arraigned four suspected criminals and a vessel before Justice A.M. Liman of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos on a three-count charge bordering on illegal dealing in petroleum products.

The defendants, Ukwuoma Ahamefula, Omeogor Nelson, Efemuaya Evans and Jude Eghreriniovo, were arrested alongside a vessel, MV Tim Begele, by the Nigerian Navy and subsequently handed over to the EFCC for prosecution.

One of the counts reads: “That you, MV Tim Begele, Ukwuoma Ahamefula, Omeogor Nelson, Efemuaya Evans, Jude Eghreriniovo and others now at large on the 3rd of December, 2019, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, conspired among yourselves to commit an offence to wit: dealing in 3,911 metric tons of petroleum products without appropriate licence; and you, thereby, committed an offence contrary to Section 3(6) of the Miscellaneous Offences Act, Cap M17, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004 and punishable under Section 1(17) of the same Act.”

They pleaded “not guilty” to the charge preferred against them.

In view of their pleas, counsel for the EFCC, Rotimi Oyedepo, prayed the court for a trial date and also asked that the defendants be remanded in Nigerian Correctional Services, NCS.

Counsel for the defendants, Peter Atabo, prayed the Court for a short date to enable the hearing of his clients’ applications for bail.

Consequently, Justice Liman adjourned the matter until April 1, 2020 for hearing and also ordered the defendants to be remanded in the NCS.

Source: prnigeria.com

Niger Delta: Smuggling, insecurity rise at private jetties

By Godfrey Bivbere

STAKEHOLDERS in the maritime industry have raised an alarm over high-level of smuggling through operations at the various private jetties scattered across the nation’s waterfront, even as they warmed about the security implication of an unregulated operations at these facilities.

Private jetties are licensed by the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA; the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA; and the National Inland Waterways Authority, NIWA, making effective regulation complicated.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

Two Filipino seafarers’ tale of surviving piracy

Yashika F. Torib

Nigerian pirates recently released eight seafarers held for almost a month in captivity under terrible conditions. Two of the hostages were Filipinos — one of whom was badly wounded and was almost left for dead. He gives details to The Manila Times regarding his desperate struggle for life and survival along with other foreign seafarers who were held captive in the jungles of Nigeria.

“I was unconscious and bloodied all over. No one knew where I was hit, but my mates knew for certain that I was barely clinging to life,” says John “Pope” Estinoco, an Ordinary Seaman for MT Happy Lady.

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Source: manilatimes.net

Criminal gangs take over Lagos – S/South waterways

By Godfrey Bivbere

COMMUNITY-based criminal gangs have taken over the nation’s waterways, from Lagos to the South-South part of the country, collecting tolls from all vessels sailing through that route.

Vanguard Maritime Report gathered that worst hit are barge owners from Warri axis who have been moving their barges to Lagos following the new trend of movement of cargo by barges from the ports to the private jetties.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

OPINION: West Africa oil and gas players faces new terror threat

With incidents on the rise, oil-producing coastal states must work to minimise the risk to the upstream industry

By Barry Morgan

OPINION: Al Qaeda and Islamic State affiliates have reached an agreement and are now working together to secure the ungoverned spaces of the African Sahel, competing for — but not fighting over — recruits.

The threat of Islamist attack is endemic in northern and eastern Burkina Faso, previously a peaceful backwater but now seen as the next front in the global war on Islamist violence.

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Source: upstreamonline.com

Nigeria unveils two vessels to tackle piracy

The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has unveiled two Special Mission Vessels, DB Lagos and DB Abuja, to eliminate embarrassment caused by piracy on Nigeria’s waterways.The Director-General of NIMASA, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, said in Lagos on Tuesday that the arrival of the vessels demonstrated the determination of the Federal Government to restore Nigeria to tackle piracy.

Local media reports on Wednesday quoted Peterside as saying that the events have brought Nigeria to near crescendo in ensuring the elimination of criminality on its waterways and to bring about absolute tranquility in the nation’s water corridors.

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Source: journalducameroun.com

PIRATE ATTACKS: World shipping groups threaten to report Nigeria to UN

By Godwin Oritse

TWO International shipping groups, Baltic and International Maritime Council, BIMCO, and International Association of Independent Tanker Owners, Inter-Tanko, have threatened to report Nigeria to the United Nations, UN, and the United States of America, USA, if cogent actions are not taken to stem the recent spike in pirate attacks against their vessels and personnel.

The follow-up measure from the groups, Vanguard Maritime Report gathered, would be a deployment of international war ships to Nigerian territorial waters to secure their vessels and personnel if the situation remains the same three months afterwards.

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Source: vanguardngr.com