Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea
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, ...
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