The Gulf of Guinea is Piracys Emerging Market
Since May this year, there have been increasing reports of pirate attacks in GoG Despite the best efforts of the world's navies and EU NAVFOR in particular, piracy inthe Indian Ocean/Gulf of Aden and Red Sea areas shows no sign of abating. Quite thecontrary, according to a report released by the International Maritime Bureau's PiracyReporting Centre in July this year. Of the incidents reported, over sixty per cent wereconducted by pirate gangs operating off the coast of Somalia and Arabian Sea. Indeed,the attacks were becoming more violent and pirates were taking much greater risks, theIMB stated.The success of Somali pirates has not gone unnoticed by criminals in other parts of theAfrican continent.Since May this year, there have been increasing reports of pirateattacks in the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) and off the coast of West Africa. The incidentsprompted the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre to issue a specificwarning in June, citing eight attacks off Cotonou, Benin. Since then, the number ofattacks has increased significantly, although it's virtually impossible to accurately gaugethe amount of pirate activity due to insufficient reporting from the region. One securityanalyst told Reuters that, "In Nigeria it is estimated that approximately 60 percent ofpirate attacks go unreported"*.The ...
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