Tag: Gulf of Guinea

UN official stresses A comprehensive regional strategy is critical if countries are to successfully combat piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, a top United Nations official stressed today, highlighting the threat posed to the security and economic development of States in the region by the scourge."Gulf of Guinea countries need a united front in order to respond to effectively to the growing threat of piracy along their coasts. Isolated national initiatives are only temporarily, at best, pushing the pirates to shift their criminal operations from one country to the next," B. Lynn Pascoe, Under Secretary-General for Political Affairs, said in a briefing to the Security Council.He told the 15-member body that piracy and armed robbery against ships increasingly undermine efforts by States in the Gulf of Guinea region to maintain peace, security and stability and to promote socio-economic development. The threat has become even more alarming as the pirates have become more violent."While regional States and organizations have carried out initiatives designed to counter piracy and armed robbery against ships at the national and regional levels, the threat not only persists but appears to be gaining ground in a region where the high-value assets the pirates target are abundant," he ...

Pirates are motivated by the increasing costs of petroleum in Nigeria The UK P&I Club issues bulleting regaring Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea- West Africa as follows:A recent case saw one of our Member vessels hijacked twice within a ten week period. On both occasions the ship was loaded with a cargo of petroleum and was drifting off Lagos waiting her turn to lighter.Acts of piracy and armed robbery off West African states contrast greatly with piracy of the kind seen in the Somali basin. The pirates' modus operandi in the Gulf of Guinea is likely motivated by the increasing costs of petroleum in Nigeria. West African pirates, not patient enough for prolonged ransom negotiations, are more eager to hijack a vessel, strip it of its cargo and opportunistically strip the crew of their possessions. The only similarities between the two varieties of African pirates is that like their East African neighbours Nigerian pirates are acting with increased confidence and attacks are now common over 100NM offshore.In the first attack no cargo was taken since the pirates who boarded were unable to secure a vessel to perform an STS at the time. Frustrated, the pirates then ransacked the ship, ...

Deteriorating security in the Gulf of Guinea Deteriorating security in the drought-hit Sahel and an uptick in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea topped the agenda at a West African regional meeting that opened in Nigeria's capital on Thursday.Leaders from the 15 nations that make up the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) are also scheduled to pick a new body chairman, replacing Nigeria's President Goodluck Jonathan whose mandate is expiring.The summit comes amid heightened insecurity in the Sahel region, where Algeria, Mali, Mauritania and Niger face renewed threats from Al-Qaeda's north Africa branch, known as Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Mahgreb (AQIM).Mali has also been forced to combat an offensive launched last month by Tuareg rebels, who have attacked several northern towns since January 17, part of a long-running struggle to secure autonomy for their nomadic desert tribes.France this week offered its first suggestion of a link between AQIM and a key Tuareg rebel group.The unrest in Mali has sparked widespread internal displacement and a surge in refugees fleeing the country. Niger and Burkina Faso, both ECOWAS members, have seen the arrival of thousands of Malian refugees, as has Mauritania, which is not a member of the bloc.The Red ...

High riskarea of being attacked by pirates and criminal elements The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has issued the following piracy update from the Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI) to all ships transiting off Nigeria, off Benin and Gulf of Guinea:Information available to ONI indicates tankers and supply boats, specifically those with US interests, operating in the Gulf of Guinea are at a heightened risk of being attacked by pirates and criminal elements operating in the region.This heightened and specific risk will remain, at minimum, from now until 25 December. Gulf of Guinea pirates and criminal elements possess intent, capability, and are actively planning on attacking tankers and/or supply boats during this timeframe. All vessels are advised to be extra vigilant and maintain anti piracy measures when transiting this area and adhere to the latest BMP recommendations.Source: IMB

Four pirate attacks have occurred off Togo and 22 off Benin in 2011 West African states are pledging to work together to fight the piracy spreading across the Gulf of Guinea, where it is damaging local economies and starting to impact on the region's trade, according to the United Nations.Some 53 piracy attacks have been reported in 2011, up from 47 in 2010. Four of the reported attacks occurred off Togo and 22 off Benin, which share 177km of coastline, according to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). Neither country reported a single attack in 2010.The IMO says the real figures are likely to be higher as attacks often go unreported when the value of goods and money stolen is below insurance minimums and the ships do not wish to be delayed by lengthy investigations.Regional cooperationIndividual governments are trying to counter the threat, but many are weak and have limited resources. The Togolese government has made some progress due to constant naval patrols and its geographical distance from Nigeria - where pirates are thought to find refuge in the labyrinthine waterways of the Niger River Delta - but invariably they find new ways to escape the patrols, said sea captain Monty ...

A three-year plan to train local forces and provide surveillance for anti-piracy operation France has launched a three-year plan to train local forces and provide surveillance for anti-piracy operations in Benin, Togo and Ghana as part of international efforts to curb insecurity from spreading in the oil-producing Gulf of Guinea.French aid comes after the United Nations Security Council last month pledged to look at ways of tackling the problem, which has long affected Nigeria's Niger Delta region but has spread, hurting Benin's shipping industry in particular."The increased number of kidnappings and the escalating costs for commercial shipping and extraction of resources are clearly a threat to the growth, development and therefore the stability of countries in the Gulf of Guinea," Jean-Paul Monchau, France's ambassador to Benin, said on Thursday.France has pledged to spend 5.2 billion CFA francs on training local forces and buying two surveillance aircraft from French firm LH Aviation, the ambassador said.The Gulf of Guinea, a stretch of West Africa's coast spanning more than a dozen countries, is a growing source of oil, cocoa and metals to world markets.While piracy has not touched the scale of the attacks off Somalia, it is on the increase and navies in ...

In Bight of Benin, Gulf of Benin and Gulf of Giunea The threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has continued to grow. New cases of piracy and armed robbery aboard vessels along the West African coast are being regularly reported,Due to the continuous increase in the number and intensity of piracy, robbery and armed attacks against ships operating in coastal waters and calling the ports in Togo, Benin, Nigeria and Cameroon, ships are advised to implement increased security measures and operational precautions.It is advisable to ensure that the transit along shipping routes between Ghana and Nigeria, as well as to the south toward Cameroon and Angola, is well planned and supported by adequate security. Vigilance, crew preparation, watch rotations and other relevant security measures are all recommended when approaching ports in this region.The Administration recommends owners, operators and Master's implement the following procedures to further enhance the security and piracy deterrence in addition to the procedures required by setting the MANDATORY SECURITY LEVEL 2 for all Liberian flagged vessels when calling on ports, and operating in the coastal waters of Togo, Benin, Nigeria andCameroon.The increase to Security Level II will remain in effect until further notice.Ships arriving in ...

Counter-piracy operations being conducted in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has deployed a team to assess the scope of the piracy threat in the Gulf of Guinea and make recommendations for possible United Nations support in tackling this scourge.The assessment mission is being sent to the region in response to a request from President Boni Yayi of Benin, according to Mr. Ban's spokesperson.It is co-led by Sammy Kum Buo, Director of the Africa II Division in the UN Department of Political Affairs (DPA), and Mariam Sissoko, Country Representative of the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Nigeria.The mission will visit Cotonou, Benin, from 7 to 16 November; Abuja, Nigeria, from 17 to 19 November; Libreville, Gabon, from 20 to 21 November; and Luanda, Angola, from 22 to 24 November.It will meet with representatives of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission, as well as Government officials and relevant national counterparts in each country.Last month Mr. Ban urged States and regional organizations in the Gulf of Guinea to develop a comprehensive and integrated strategy to combat ...

A new While the world is struggling to contain the epidemic of Somali pirate attacks in the Indian Ocean, a new "copycat" phenomenon is emerging on the other side of the continent, in West Africa, where piracy is expanding rapidly.The new piracy hotspot is the Gulf of Guinea, off the coasts of Nigeria and Benin. The latest case is the MT Halifax, a Malta-flagged oil tanker with about 25 crew members, which was seized this week by pirates off the coast of southern Nigeria, near the city of Port Harcourt in the oil-rich Niger Delta.In a separate attack, a Nigerian vessel with links to the oil industry was reportedly seized in the same region on Wednesday, although few details are known. Another vessel was captured by pirates off the coast of Nigeria last month, with a crew of 20 Eastern Europeans aboard. It was released about five days later.In neighbouring Benin, the trend is even more dramatic. Last year no pirate attacks were recorded off the coast of Benin - yet at least 20 such attacks have occurred off Benin this year so far.A leading group of global insurers announced in August that the waters off Nigeria and Benin will ...

Supply boat seized in separate Thursday attack Pirates have hijacked an oil products tanker off the coast of Nigeria after contact was lost with the vessel and crew over the weekend, the vessel's manager said on Thursday.An official with Greek-based Ancora Investment Trust Inc said the Halifax tanker was still being held. "They are holding the vessel and crew," the official told Reuters.An oil security source told Reuters separately that pirates had hijacked a small oil supply boat, called MV Igbere, off the coast of Nigeria on Thursday.The incidents were the latest in a lengthening string of attacks on ships in the Gulf of Guinea that experts say threatens an emerging trade hub -- and an increasingly important source of oil, metals and agricultural products like cocoa to world markets.Pirates in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, which stretches from Guinea to Angola, tend to raid ships for cash and cargo rather than hijacking the crews for ransom like their counterparts off the coast of Somalia, analysts say."What they are aiming at is the cargo," said the official from Ancora Investment Trust, which manages the tanker.The official said the Halifax had been 60 miles off Nigeria's Port Harcourt before it was ...