Maersk Tema, a container ship operated by Bernhard Schulte Ship, was attacked by two speedboats in the Gulf of Guinea on February 14. The crew initiated emergency procedures, while it is not known if the pirates managed to board the ship.
The shipping industry is willing to support Nigerian Navy efforts and work with all parties, in order to end the escalation of piracy that acts as an endemic blight to free trade, was the key message of ICS Chairman Esben Poulsson while speaking after the ICS Board meeting in London this week.
ECSA raised the alarm about the dire security situation in the Gulf of Guinea, at the ECR Conference on Maritime Security and the Blue Economy in the European Parliament on Wednesday, February 5.
Experts from Ghana’s Maritime Security sector urged for more investment towards enhancing maritime security, in order to protect Ghana’s territorial waters, after the rise in maritime security threats across the West African sub-region.
After the attack on the crude oil tanker ‘Duke’, 20 crew were abducted on December 15. According to V.Ships Management (India) 19 seafarers were released on January 19, but one crew lost his life. Now, new information emerges, noting that the pirates provided medical assistance to the ill crew member, but were not able to save him.
Another piracy incident was reported in Nigeria, as a group of armed men fired upon a containership, located about 19 nautical miles South West of Bayelsa on January 21, Tuesday. Following, the crew has been reported to be safe and unharmed.
The eight crew members that were abducted from the Greek-flagged “Happy Lady” tanker while at Limboh port in Cameroon have been released. The attack had taken place in the end of December.
BIMCO provides guidance to the shipping stakeholders concerning the escalated tensions in the Gulf of Guinea, followed by the killing of General Qassem Soleimani by a US drone in early January 2020, and retaliation by Iran.
The Maritime Administration (MARAD) of the United States Department of Transportation issued one new advisory to commercial shipping, canceling the earlier ones issued in 2019. Namely, the 2020-002-Gulf of Guinea-Piracy/Armed Robbery/Kidnapping for Ransom, cancels the the U.S. Maritime Advisory 2019-010.
Nineteen crew that were kidnapped by pirates from the oil tanker ‘MT Duke’ off Benin last month, have been released, while one died during the captivity. The twenty Indian crew were kidnapped on December 15.
