Tag: maritime piracy

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Defining piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

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 ...

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Intermanager on IMO Maritime Safety Committee , 91st Session

MSC 91 held in London, on 26-30 November 2012 The IMO's Committee on Maritime Safety (MSC) held its 91st session from Monday 26 through Friday 30 November 2012 under the Chairmanship of Mr Christian Breinholt (DENMARK) who, together with his Vice Chair (Captain Segar of SINGAPORE), were duty re-elected for a further year.Following a welcome address to participants by the Secretary General, UK made a statement on the ban of Falkland Islands hydrocarbon related vessels visiting Argentina and its unfair effect on ships' crews. Argentina responded that it has not violated its commitment and obeyed UNCLOS in addition to Port Regulations; this latter view was endorsed by Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Ecuador, Guatemala, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela.Three Working Groups were formed:(1) Goal-Based New Ship Construction Standards(2) Passenger Ship Safety(3) The scope of application of amendments to SOLAS and related codes and guidelines in an holistic mannerIn addition, a draft group gave 'Consideration and Adoption of Amendments to Mandatory Instruments' whilst a 'Capacity-Building Needs Analysis Group (ACAG)' also deliberated. The report of the Formal Safety Assessment Experts Group, which met during the week preceding MSC91, was also considered.So, a busy week lay in store and this was given further 'grist to ...

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