In the wake of two subsequent piracy attacks involving crew abductions in the Gulf of Guinea, ECSA and ICS expressed concerns about the rise of armed attacks on merchant ships in the region and underlined these attacks threaten the smooth conduct of international maritime trade.
Up to eight pirates attacked the Italian supply vessel ‘Remas’ on November 11, in the Gulf of Mexico. Two crew members suffered injuries, which are not life threatening. The pirates approached the supply ship with two fast boats.
The Union of Greek Shipowners, in light of the recent piracy incidents that gained attention, expressed their great worry and concern and highlighted that all shipping stakeholders should place the piracy incidents as a top priority, as they pose great challenges for the seafarers.
Under the recent piracy events that took place and led to the hostage of seafarers, ITF’s section chair David Heindel called on the shipping industry, governments and unions to work collaboratively to eliminate piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
The European Community Shipowners’ Associations (ECSA) and the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) both denounce the attack against the bulk carrier “MV BONITA” and highlight that they both closely monitor the situation.
Pirates boarded the tanker ‘Elka Aristotle’ on 4 November, off Lome, Togo, kidnapping 4 crew members, European Navigation confirmed. Now, the company is trying to free the kidnapped crew, highlighting that the safety of its crew is of paramount importance.
During the early morning hours of Saturday, November 2, pirates boarded the bulk vessel MV Bonita, taking hostage nine crew-members, off Cotonou in Benin.At the time, the J.J. Ugland vessel was at anchor, waiting for berth to discharge inbound cargo of gypsum, mostly used as fertiliser. According to a statement of the company, the remaining members of crew contacted the local authorities and later in the same day, the Norway-flagged vessel docked at the port city of Cotonou.
A documentary series ‘The negotiators’ is focusing on a hijacking case concerning the crewmembers of the Naham 3 fishing trawler who were taken hostages by Somali pirates back in 2012; the episode begins from the day of the piracy attack, explaining how the negotiations proceeded, the difficulties the negotiators faced and how it all ended.
During January-October 2019, three incidents of unauthorized boarding of ships in locations of close proximity to each other were reported in the western sector of Singapore Strait, ReCAAP ISC said in a new incident alert. All three incidents occurred to ships underway in the eastbound lane of the Traffic Separation Scheme (TSS).
The Observer research Foundation (ORF) launched a report focusing on today’s maritime piracy, analysing where the shipping industry stands, the possibility of piracy in Asia increasing and also measures to improve maritime readiness against piracy incidents.
