Tag: Gulf of Guinea

Maersk s WAFMAX vessels to grow trade relations in West Africa

North P&I Club publishes guidance on employing armed guards in west Africa

The Critical Maritime Routes in the Gulf of Guinea Programme A new project which will boost security and the safety of maritime routes across seven African countries in the Gulf of Guinea was announced today by the European Union.The Critical Maritime Routes in the Gulf of Guinea Programme (CRIMGO) will help governments across West and Central Africa to improve safety of the main shipping routes by providing training for coastguards and establishing a network to share information between countries and agencies across the region.Announcing the project today, Development Commissioner, Andris Piebalgs, said: "Without security, development can never properly reach the people it needs to. That's why our new project, which will help to boost transport security in Western Africa, is so crucial. By making the waters safe, we are helping to boost trade and growth and provide more opportunities to make a living, which these countries so desperately need."The project will be rolled out from January 2013 in 7 African coastal states: Benin, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Nigeria, Sâo Tomé and Principe and Togo.The Gulf of Guinea currently accounts for 13% of oil and 6% of gas imports to the EU. However, piracy and armed robbery, as well as drug, ...

Interim Guidelines for Owners, Operators and Masters for protection against piracy

Issued by BIMCO, ICS, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO Recognising the significantly increased security concerns in the Gulf of Guinea region, the Round Table of international shipping associations (BIMCO, ICS, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO) have developed a set of Interim Guidelines for Owners, Operators and Masters for protection against piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea region.Based upon consultations with their respective members, the Interim Guidelines have been produced as a result of the collaborative efforts of the four associations which, in addition, have been supported and endorsed by the NATO Shipping Centre.Although standalone in nature, the Interim Guidelines should be read in conjunction with the existing industry guidelines that address the Somalia-based piracy problem, Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy (BMP4).The situation in the Gulf of Guinea region is continually evolving, therefore the Interim Guidelines will be updated when the situation dictates or relevant information becomes available from other sources, for example, if a security or reporting centre is established locally.Complimentary soft copies of the Interim Guidance are available for download from the Security section of theBIMCO website.For more information, click hereSource: BIMCO

How piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is different from that off Somalia In July last year President Boni Yayi of Benin sent a worried letter to the UN secretary-general. His country was being threatened by the activities of pirates, who were scaring shipping away from the ports on which his country's revenues depend. He wanted international help of the kind which had been deployed against piracy off the coast of Somalia.His letter put the issue of piracy off the West African coast onto the world agenda. The attacks continue and still cluster in the vicinity of Benin and its neighbour, Nigeria, but despite UN missions and a Security Council debate, the international community is still unsure of the best way to proceed.On 6 December Coventry University organized a conference on Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea, in collaboration with London's Chatham House. One thing which emerged very clearly from the sessions was that what is being called piracy in this area is very different from piracy off the East African coast, and the kind of international naval deployment used against Somali pirates is unlikely to help.In fact Chris Trelawny, deputy director of the Maritime Safety Division at the ...

UN chief, Nigerian president meet on fight against piracy in Gulf of Guinea

Ghana commits to fighting piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

IMB Notes Increase in Piracy Off West Africa

Pirates have launched another attack on a tanker off West Africa