New Telegraph

Ship owners face hard times over insecurity

Pirates are making life difficult for ship owners in Nigeria’s maritime domain as kidnapping of crew members has now become the order of the day. Within the last nine months, there has been 40 per cent increase in the number of kidnap incidents, BAYO AKOMOLAFE reports

 

In the last three quarters of the year, Nigerian waters have become the hotbed of sea robbers and pirates, who are operating with impunity, despite the anti-piracy law and measures put place to curb them.

 

The Federal Government had enacted a law to deter robbery on the sea but incidences of armed robbery and piracy have continued to surge uncontrollably.

 

According to International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) figure, there has been a 40 per cent increase in the number of kidnappings reported in the Gulf of Guinea, compared with the same period in 2019 as pirates armed with guns and knives were abducting bigger groups of seafarers at further disstances off the West African coast.

 

Global report IMB’s latest global piracy reports indicated that there were 132 attacks since the start of 2020, up from 119 incidents in the same period last year.

 

Of the 85 seafarers kidnapped from their vessels and held for ransom, 80 were taken in the Gulf of Guinea – in 14 attacks reported off I Nigeria, Benin, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea and Ghana.

 

For instance, in the first nine months of 2020, seafarers reported 134 cases of assault, injury and threats, including 85 crewmembers being kidnapped and 31 held hostage onboard their ships.

 

The bureau explained that a total of 112 vessels were boarded and six were fired upon, while 12 reported attempted attacks, noting that two fishing vessels were hijacked, both in the Gulf of Guinea.

 

It said: “Crews are facing exceptional pressures due to Covid-19, and the risk of violent piracy or armed robbery is an extra stress,” said Michael Howlett, Director of IMB, whose Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) had responded to reports and shared data since 1991, supporting seafarers and fishers worldwide.

 

Cooperation

 

The bureau said that it had liaises with authorities swiftly in case of a pirate attack and encourage all coastal states and regional cooperations to take responsibility for ensuring maritime security within their EEZ to achieve safer seas and secure trade.

 

Gulf of Guinea

 

According to IMB, the Gulf of Guinea has become the world’s piracy hotspot with approximately 95 per cent of global kidnappings reported from within its waters as pirate gangs in the area are well organised and targeting all vessel types.

 

Breakdown

 

It furthest said that attack from shore also involved the most crew kidnapped from a single vessel in 2020.

 

Giving a breakdown, it said that on on the 17 July 2020, eight pirates armed with machine guns boarded a product tanker underway around 196 nautical miles southwest of Bayelsa, Nigeria, saying that they held all 19 crewmembers hostage, stole ship’s documents and valuable  items, and escaped with 13 kidnapped crew.It noted that the tanker was left drifting with limited and unqualified navigational and engine crew onboard.

 

Also, it explained that a nearby merchant vessel later helped the tanker to sail to a safe port. A more recent example was on September 8, 2020, when armed pirates attacked a refrigerated cargo ship underway around 33nautical miles southsouthwest of Lagos. where two crewmembers were kidnapped, but the rest of the crew managed to retreat into the citadel – one of the industry’s recommended best practices endorsed by IMB.

 

It was learnt that a Nigerian naval team was dispatched, who boarded, conducted a search, and then escorted the ship to a safe anchorage for investigations. Commander of Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Beecroft,

 

Commodore Ibrahim Shettima, who gave details of the naval operation, explainee the vessel had 18 crewmembers comprising Chinese, Ghanaians, and Ivorians.

 

He said: “On interception of the vessel about 140nm south of Lagos Fairway Buoy, the pirates had refused to comply with the orders of the Navy ship, hence the Nigerian Navy had to conduct an opposed boarding of the vessel. All ship crew were safely rescued, while the 10 pirates were also arrested.”

 

He stressed the need for increased regional cooperation and information sharing, disclosing that the arrest of the pirates was due to a tip-off by the Beninoise Navy.

 

Shettima warned criminal elements to stay away from Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea, saying the Navy has the capability to deal with such threats.

 

Last line

 

There is need by government to provide more security boats for Nigerian Navy to ward off sea robbers.

Read Previous

Curbing market volatility through circuit breakers

Read Next

The death of JJ Rawlings

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *