Tag: Gulf of Guinea

The strategy will entail the drafting of domestic laws and regulations The Security Council condemned all acts of maritime piracy and armed robbery at sea in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea and welcomed the intention by States in the region to convene a summit to consider a comprehensive response to the menace.In a resolution adopted unanimously, the Council encouraged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) and the Gulf of Guinea Commission (GGC) to develop a strategy against maritime piracy.The strategy will entail the drafting of domestic laws and regulations - where they do not exist - which will criminalize piracy and armed robbery at sea and develop a regional framework to counter piracy and armed robbery, including information-sharing and operational coordination mechanisms in the region.The regional anti-piracy effort will also include the development and strengthening of domestic laws and regulations to implement relevant international agreements on the safety and security of navigation, in accordance with international law.The Council encouraged ECOWAS, ECCAS and the GGC to counter piracy in the Gulf of Guinea through bilateral or regional maritime patrols, in line with relevant international law, while ensuring that such activities do ...

The issue of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea was raisedat the 66th General Assembly annual debate Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged States and regional organizations in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea to develop a comprehensive and integrated strategy to combat maritime piracy, which he said threatens to hinder economic development and undermine security in the region."The threat is compounded because most Gulf States have limited capacity to ensure safe maritime trade, freedom of navigation, the protection of marine resources and the safety and security of lives and property," Mr. Ban told the Security Council during an open debate on piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.He said he was aware of plans by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) convene a summit on the issue and the intention of the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) to hold an international conference.Let us therefore work together to forge a balanced and coherent strategy that addresses the roots of the problem as well as deterrence on land and at sea."I also encourage them to build on the existing Memorandum of Understanding on maritime law enforcement developed by the Maritime Organization of West and Central Africa and the International Maritime Organization ...

About 30 attacks have been reported Russia is ready to join international efforts to curb sea piracy in the Gulf of Guinea where about 30 attacks on commercial ships have been registered since the beginning of 2011, Russia's envoy to the UN Vitaly Churkin said.Speaking at the Security Council meeting on Growing Piracy Problem in Gulf of Guinea on Wednesday, Churkin expressed serious concern at the upsurge of crime at sea off the west coast of Africa, some of which directly affected Russian citizens.In one of the recent attacks, Nigerian pirates seized the MT Cape Bird, a tanker with a crew of 20, including five Russians, in waters off Lagos on October 8. The crew was released on October 14."These attacks are a serious crime that threatens security, including the security and safety of Russian citizens, and we intend to make this problem our priority," Churkin said, adding that a coordinated anti-piracy strategy with West and Central African states was needed."We are ready to consider possible cooperation with these countries and regional blocs based on Russia's own experience in the area," the diplomat said.Russia has been successfully fighting sea piracy off the Somali coast since 2008. Task forces from the ...

UNODC raises concerns for piracy Amid rising concerns that pirates are taking control of the waters off West Africa, Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC, met Nassirou Bakou Arifari, Minister for Foreign Affairs of Benin , during the annual session of the General Assembly in New York."These are worrying developments that we should take seriously", Mr. Fedotov told Mr. Arifari. Benin, in particular, is seeing an increase in piracy off its coastline that may have implications for its national development and stability.Holding massive reserves of oil, cocoa and metals needed to supply hungry world markets, the Gulf of Guinea - a stretch of West Africa's coast spanning more than a dozen countries - is witnessing early signs that pirates may be keen to pounce on new and lucrative opportunities. Piracy, drug smuggling and political uncertainty have made the Gulf of Guinea a challenging environment for investors seeking to benefit from natural resources.UNODC, the United Nations Office for West Africa and the International Maritime Organization are therefore setting up a mission to assess the capacity of Benin to combat piracy. They will lend international support within the framework of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) regional action plan to ...

In late July, pirates stormed an Italian oil tanker, startling the 23 crew members In late July, pirates stormed an Italian oil tanker, startling the 23 crew members guiding the ship toward its African port. But this was not another attack off the coast of Somalia, whose pirates have for years been the scourge of shipping lanes off its coast. The men who seized the Anema e Core work thousands of miles to the west, in the Gulf of Guinea.In the past eight months, acts of piracy have spiked in the waters off West Africa, says John Drake, a senior consultant at the London-based security firm AKE. The wave of violence seems partly inspired by the Somali pirates and partly a result of the mixed blessings that come, countries in the region are finding out, with discovering vast oil reserves.Piracy here is a combination of brazen criminality and vigilante redressing of economic imbalance. West Africa's waters are an oil-soaked frontier for downtrodden young men hailing from the lawless Niger Delta, the area of Nigeria that perhaps best exemplifies the widening gap between oil wealth and poverty. Many of the rebels are from fishing communities and need nothing but their small ...

West African pirates are copy-catting their Somali counterparts One of the joys of sailing is the freedom to go where you want when you want. While all sensible cruising sailors are now avoiding the western Indian Ocean as too dangerous to sail, latest reports also suggest that West African pirates are copy-catting their Somali counterparts and cruising sailors are best to avoid these areas as well.Despite a massive naval presence in the Gulf of Aden and some successful prosecutions - of five pirates behind the hijacking of a South African yacht in the Netherlands, and of several pirates involved in the shooting death of four American sailors, piracy is one of the world's few booming industries in this global economic downturn.Attacks in Somalia had increased over 2010, showed no sign of slowing down in 2011, and now the copycats in West Africa pose a whole new threat to yachts, and even to international shipping.Somewhere between 15 and 23 attacks were reported in the first half of the year in West Africa, according to the International Maritime Bureau, and are continuing at the same rate in the second half of the year. Most have been centred in the Gulf of Guinea, ...

Crimes have an adverse impact on security and trade in the area The Security Council voiced concern over increasing maritime piracy, armed robbery and reports of hostage-taking in the Gulf of Guinea, saying the crimes were having an adverse impact on security, trade and other economic activities in the sub-region.The Council took note of efforts by countries in the Gulf of Guinea to tackle the problem, including joint coastline patrols by Nigeria and Benin and plans to convene a summit of Gulf of Guinea heads of State to discuss a regional response."In this context, members of the Council underlined the need for regional coordination and leadership in developing a comprehensive strategy to address this threat," said a statement read out to the press by Ambassador Hardeep Singh Puri of India, which holds the Council's rotating presidency this month.The Council urged the international community to support countries in the region, as well as the regional organizations - the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) - and other relevant bodies, in securing international navigation along the Gulf of Guinea, including through information exchange, improved coordination and capacity building.The Council took note of ...

West African countries are discussing the creation of a regional force West African countries are discussing the creation of a regional force to tackle growing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, a senior Nigerian government official said on Wednesday.Piracy is a growing threat to shipping in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea - a major source of oil, metals and agricultural products to world markets - with a spate of attacks off Benin this year marking an expansion in the area pirates operate.Oyewole Olugbenga Leke, senior special assistant to Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan on maritime services, said West African countries were looking at a regional initiative to combat the growing threat."What they are trying to do is coastal states will provide from their military forces men and platforms to man the Gulf of Guinea," he told Reuters."Talks and discussions are on," he said on the sidelines of a Hanson Wade West African piracy conference in London.Oyewole said under plans being discussed, any arrangement would work "without jeopardising the territorial integrity of any nation.""We are hoping it is going to come out to be a real force in the sub region to combat piracy," he said."It is being handled in Nigeria at ...

Nigerian navy officers undergo military exercises to help boost security in the area Piracy attacks are escalating in the Gulf of Guinea, endangering the future of one of the world's emerging shipping hubs and highlighting the weak state of maritime security in West Africa.The Gulf of Guinea stretches along a dozen West and Central African countries, including Nigeria and Angola, the continent's top oil producers.Though waters off the coast of Somalia remain the uncontested epicenter of global piracy, the Gulf of Guinea has reported an alarming spike in attacks this year, particularly off the coast of Benin.Raymond Gilpin, the director of the Center for Sustainable Economies at the U.S. Institute of Peace, said, "It's clear that the gang or gangs involved in this know exactly what they are looking for - oil tankers that are either anchored or moored in some form. The intent is to take over the vessel, direct it to a safe location and offload its cargo."Armed robbery at sea is not new to the Gulf of Guinea, nor is the illegal sale of oil stolen from its waters in West African and European ports. Over the past six months, however, analysts say the attacks have become ...

Pirate attacks are increasing in this region which becomes oil-producing zone and trading hub Pirate attacks off the coast of West Africa are increasingly sharply in a region that is becoming a major oil-producing zone and trading hub.Security and shipping analysts say the number of attacks is underreported and that, left unchecked, the emerging crisis could soon rival the Somali piracy scourge off East Africa that now extends deep into the Indian Ocean.Nigeria, the main oil producer in sub-Saharan Africa, and Benin, its tiny eastern neighbor, have reported 27 attacks this year.Piracy in these waters and the Gulf of Guinea, which runs along the Atlantic coasts of a dozen countries from Guinea to Angola, has gone from low-level robberies at sea to hijackings, cargo seizures and major holdups over the last eight months.So far, there have been no hijackings for ransom, the primary tactic used by the Somali pirates.But London's maritime insurance market has added Benin to its list of high-risk zones for shipping, on a par with the Gulf of Aden off Somalia on the other side of the continent.Benin is the maritime access point for land-locked states such as Niger, Chad and Burkina Faso and its economy depends ...