The US Maritime Administration launched a MSCI Advisory informing about Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Indian Ocean violence due to regional conflict and piracy, highlighting that there’s still risks for commercial vessels operating in these areas.
Companies, company security officers (CSO), ship security officers (SSO) and Private Maritime Security Companies (PMSC) of Panamanian flagged vessels should implement the necessary security measures described in the latest edition of the Best Management Practices before, during and after the transit through High Risk Areas.
IMO announced that it would like to draw to the attention of the international maritime community that warnings currently being issued from the email account of the Regional Maritime Information Sharing Centre (REMISC) in Sana’a, Yemen (infoex@remisc.org) are not legitimate.
Kenya has been chosen to chair the Contact Group on Piracy off the Coast of Somalia for two years starting on January 2020. Kenya will now be able to coordinate regional and international efforts to address piracy which remains a danger to the Maritime sector.
Members of the shipping community, Flag States and Agencies from Gulf of Guinea gathered at the IMO Headquarters for a day-long symposium on Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea. The shipping industry, as well as seafarer groups, organized the event aiming to give emphasis to the continuing danger to seafarers that are sailing in the Gulf of Guinea.
On 21 April, suspected pirates seized a fishing dhow off the coast of Somalia, holding 23 people hostage. In a few hours, the European Union’s counter-piracy force EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta had responded to the attack. Two days later, the incident had ended, with Operation Atalanta detaining five suspects and releasing the 23 hostages.
Diaplous Maritime Services has produced a White Paper on the issue of the HRA border reduction in the Indian Ocean, which includes a detailed threat analysis on Somali Based Piracy after taking into consideration a number of variables. The official position of Diaplous is that shipping companies should not become complacent in matters of maritime security, in order to prevent a resurgence of piracy and that BMP 5 standards should be followed at all times for Somali Basin & GoA transits.
The ECSA delegation met with the EU NAVFOR’s team to discuss the current state of piracy off the coast of Somalia, also visiting the naval assets participating in Operation Atalanta. EU NAVFOR is committed to deter, prevent, and suppress piracy and also highlight that the Maritime Industry must continue to adhere to BMP measures in order to maximize the safety of the ships and crews whilst transiting the high-risk area.
According to NIMASA, the Nigerian-flagged vessel MV CHARIS, tugboat, was attacked on May 5 by unknown assailants and rescued by the Spanish Navy. The rescued vessel was sent to Equatorial Guinea and has been released.
In Eleni Shipping Limited v Transgrain Shipping BV (The Eleni P), Steamship Mutual informs that the Commercial Court considered an appeal under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 by Owners of an award in which the Tribunal rejected Owners’ claim for hire to be paid by Charterers during the period for which the vessel was detained by pirates in the Arabian Sea.
