An Italian Senate committee voted, on February 19, to block the investigation into accusations of kidnapping against Deputy Prime Minister Matteo Salvini, when he decided to hold 150 migrants on board a ship for five days on August 2018, according to Reuters.
In the latest revision of the Nordic Marine Insurance Plan, it was agreed to restrict the war risk cover to politically motivated interventions, with state interventions falling outside the war risk cover included in the marine insurance cover. The 2019 revision of the NMIP was approved by all parties and the document was published for use by insurance practitioners. The amendments in the 2019 version vary from small clarifications in clauses to more substantial re-writing of individual clauses.
According to the Nigerian Navy, thirty-four pirate ship attacks were reported in 2018, stating that evasive manoeuvre from the legal regime have been the bane in the fight against oil theft prosecution. From January to December 2018, from the 34 reported pirate attacks, the 9 were successful, whereas the 25 were unsuccessful; 20 sea robbery attacks were reported in 2018, with 6 having success, in comparison to 14 being unsuccessful.
As part of its efforts to help African countries improve the sustainability of their maritime sectors and their blue economies, IMO has participated in two major annual maritime security exercises in Djibouti and in Maputo, Mozambique, to help support their initiatives.
Eastern Pacific aframax tanker Barents Sea, that was seized by private military with k-47 machine guns in Cameroon on February 2, has been released. The 26 crew on board are reported safe and unharmed. According to the company, the vessel was unlawfully seized by the private militia armed with AK-47s last week at the Sonara Refinery in Limbe. The ship has now completed cargo discharge and departed the port of Limbe.
Transnational maritime crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated as criminal groups exploit jurisdiction and enforcement challenges on the high seas, warned Yury Fedotov, Executive Director of UNODC, in his briefing to the United Nations Security Council debate on transnational organized crime at sea.
Police authorities in Cape Verde seized approximately 10 tonnes of cocaine and arrested 11 Russians on a vessel that was docked in Praia, the capital. Reuters states that it is the largest single drag haul that was ever conducted in the island country’s history.
The vessel ‘Barents Sea’, a Singapore-flagged Aframax tanker was seized by private military with k-47 machine guns in Cameroon. The vessel along with 26 crewmembers was seized at the Sonara refinery in Limbe, according to Singapore-based ship management company Eastern Pacific Shipping.
Hong Kong Customs and Excise Department and the Mainland Customs jointly seized approximately 8,300 kilograms of pangolin scales and 2,100 kilograms of ivory tusks from a shipping container at the port of Kwai Chung, on January 16. The estimated market value was about $62 million.
AAPA identified nearly $4 billion in crucial port and supply chain security needs over the next 10 years, according to the report AAPA launched ‘The State of Freight’. Specifically, AAPA members reported they will need $2.62 billion to maintain and upgrade their security apparatus over the next 10 years and $1.27 billion in future security investments to address cybersecurity and other security threats.
