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 Gulf of Guinea is regarded as an important, emerging trade hub, spanning a dozencountries from the tip of Northwest Africa to Angola in the South. It is a valuable sourceof oil, and pirates in the region are currentlytargeting diesel and oil tankers in particular.
According to a Reuters report, the Gulf of Guinea produces more than 3 million barrelsof oil a day, equivalent to 4% of the global total. This oil is ultimately destined forEurope and the USA, while some sources suggest that the USA will be receiving up to25% of its oil supplies from the region by 2015.
With so much potentially at stake it is perhaps remarkable that little is being doneon the international stage to combat piracy in the region. Local coastal defences areseen as weak, while the coastline itself is craggy and offers a variety of hiding placesfor potential attackers. Although thus far, only 27 or so attacks on vessels in the areahave been reported by the IMB, the actual number incidents may be far higher, thanksprimarily to the definition of ‘piracy’.
Somali pirates operate a ‘blue ocean’ form of piracy, attacking vessels in internationalwaters, which in turn means their crimes are legally recognised as “acts of piracy”. Theattacks in the Gulf of Guinea and off the coast of Nigeria occur in national or coastalwaters, and therefore do not legally qualify as “acts of piracy”.
Source: Maritime & Travel News
