Maritime Security Updates Archive

21st January 2020
Time is no longer on the side of the pirates as they expect to be detected quickly after an abduction. What is more, many attacks are being repelled. The obvious answer for the pirates to those two problems is to maximise returns by abducting more people in one go.

15th January 2020
Despite overall piracy incidents declining in 2019, there was an alarming increase in crew kidnappings across the Gulf of Guinea the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) said in its annual piracy report.

27th December 2019
The cost of maritime piracy in West Africa was more than $800m in 2017 accoring to Oceans Beyond Piracy

16th December 2019
Kenya and Djibouti, two states directly affected by piracy, achieved widespread reform of their domestic maritime sectors through new national initiatives and assistance from external partners.

27th November 2019
The Joint Maritime Information and Coordination Centre (JMICC) is working hard to achieve the status of Initial Operational Capability by the end of 2020.

18th November 2019
Demands by the shipping industry for international navies to become more involved in counter-piracy operations won’t lead to lasting solutions. These can only be successful if they are designed based on regional requirements and take on board regional initiatives aimed at tackling a multiplicity of social problems, rather than just one.

21st October 2019
On the morning of 20 October 2019, EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation ATALANTA received a request to assist a vessel belonging to the Somali Navy in distress some 60 km north of Cadale.

18th October 2019
The Nigerian Navy recently intercepted a small craft and arrested its occupants for a criminal offense: providing security services to a merchant ship.

27th September 2019
EUNAVFOR MED Operation Sophia was launched on 22 June 2015 and it is part of the EU’s comprehensive approach to migration.

17th September 2019
Global maritime security conference to advance international cooperation for a safe, secure and sustainable ocean economy to be held in Nigeria from 7 to 9 October 2019

17th September 2019
The M/T MAXIMUS and the M/T ANUKET AMBER are vessels that have tested the cooperative architecture for maritime security in West and Central Africa.

9th September 2019
South Africa has toughened its stowaway policy and no stowaways will be permitted to be landed in South Africa.

18th August 2019
Leaders of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) meeting in Tanzania have agreed to address rising security threats facing the region, including terrorism, said a communique issued on Sunday.

10th August 2019
A dispute over the “premature” release of convicted pirates by Somaliland authorities may reach the UN Security Council, after a protest by the Seychelles.

10th July 2019
MDAT – GoG reports are primarily based upon information sent by vessels using the Voluntary Reporting Scheme.

1st July 2019
Regional conflict and piracy threats continue to pose potential risks to commercial vessels operating in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Gulf of Oman, and Indian Ocean

25th June 2019
The International Maritime Organization warns that alerts being issued from the email account of the Regional Maritime Information Sharing Centre (REMISC) in Sana’a, Yemen (infoex@remisc.org) are not legitimate.

12th June 2019
The Swedish Club has released a case study of stowaways in the steering gear trunk of a container vessel that departed from Lagos

7th June 2019
Directorate General of Shipping in India has banned Indian seafarers from working in vessels in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea, as piracy and kidnapping incidents increase.

27th May 2019
A fresh annual report from the International Maritime Bureau shows that attacks in West Africa helped push piracy numbers up in 2018. In terms of military and law enforcement, an international operation is not complicated, so what is needed above all is the will to act.

19th May 2019
A new report by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) reveals that Nigeria and other countries in the Gulf of Guinea lost US$777.1 million to piracy and other maritime crimes.

14th May 2019
Lloyd’s Register has surveyed damage sustained by two of the four tankers alleged to have been “sabotaged” in waters off Fujairah at the weekend, as Norway upgraded security warnings for its vessels visiting ports in the Middle East region.

7th May 2019
The Boskalis semi-submersible heavy lift vessel Blue Marlin was ransacked by pirates offshore West Africa on 5 May 2019, causing damage that has left the ship inoperable.

6th May 2019
Maritime security and safety are at the core of the Gulf of Guinea Inter-Regional Network’s (GoGIN) Project for sustainability of the Blue Economy.

3rd May 2019
With more than 30 000 kilometres of coastline, the fortunes of the African continent are inextricably bound to safety and security at sea.

26th April 2019
The capture of a Yemeni dhow off the Somalian coast was all that initially went right for a suspected pirate gang. Four days later they and the captured vessel were apprehended by the European Union Naval Force’s (EU NavFor’s) Operation Atalanta after failed attempts to board three vessels.

17th April 2019
The Interregional Maritime Security Institute organised a training course for sea authorities to deal with piracy attacks from 16 to 19 April 2019 in Cote d’Ivoire

15th April 2019
Barely one year after expressing satisfaction with Nigeria’s compliance level with the International Ships and Ports Security (ISPS) Code, the United States Coast Guard (USCG) has placed sanctions on Nigeria for port security lapses.

12th April 2019
As the maritime sector is being targeted by highly motivated cyber criminals, the shipping industry should be on the highest alert for a cyber attack, Itai Sela, CEO of cyber security specialist Naval Dome, said.

8th April 2019
The International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) report for the first quarter of 2019 reveals fewer incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships than the first three months of 2018.

5th April 2019
Brussels announced that it would end its naval patrols after the Italian government said it would no longer receive migrants rescued at sea.

4th April 2019
Countries in the Horn of Africa have formed a task force to co-ordinate regional interventions in the face of threats to marine resources and security around the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden

29th March 2019
On Friday 29 March 2019 Spain took over from Britain a European Union maritime mission that combats piracy off the coast of Somalia as Britain's planned departure from the bloc nears.

28th March 2019
A Maltese special operations team on Thursday boarded a tanker that had been hijacked by migrants rescued at sea, and returned control to the captain, before escorting it to a Maltese port.

15th March 2019
On 6 November the United Nations (UN) Security Council renewed the authorisation for international naval forces to carry out anti-piracy measures off Somalia's coast. It is now 10 years since the first resolution was passed in 2008 to respond to piracy and robbery against humanitarian and commercial ships in the region.

11th March 2019
New advice issued to merchant ship operators about the boundaries of the High Risk Area in the Indian Ocean where the threat from piracy exists, while emphasising that a serious threat from piracy still exists in the region.

5th February 2019
International maritime crime is becoming increasingly sophisticated as criminal groups exploit jurisdiction and enforcement challenges on the high seas and pose “immediate danger to people’s lives and safety”, the UN anti-drugs and crime chief warned the Security Council on Tuesday.

28th January 2019
In the area of maritime security, which is critical to actualising safe and secure shipping, the NIMASA DG informed participants that the draft suppression of piracy and other maritime offenses bill facilitated by the agency, aimed at criminalising piracy and other maritime offenses have been forwarded to the national assembly.

26th January 2019
Governments from this diverse group of countries have committed themselves to improving maritime security including, but not limited to, the fight against piracy. There’s increasing recognition that capacity-building is necessary.

22nd January 2019
Turning the tide of piracy and attacks is not a difficult operation in terms of military and law enforcement, according to Jakob P. Larsen, BIMCO Head of Maritime Security. The will to act and get both local and international involvement and cooperation on the other hand, may be.

18th January 2019
Terrorists are making over $7 million a year by smuggling charcoal illegally out of Somalia, according to estimates by the Royal Navy.

18th January 2019
Piracy increased on the world’s seas in 2018, with a marked rise in attacks against ships and crews around West Africa, according to a report from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

4th January 2019
The 2,700 TEU Mandy was under way in the Gulf of Guinea on Wednesday when she was attacked and boarded at a position about 55 nm offshore. Six crew members have been reported missing.

8th December 2018
The European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) celebrated ten years of maritime operations on 8 December 2018.

7th December 2018
The International Ship and Port Facility Security Code Implementation Committee (ICIC) is a committee chaired by Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Designated Authority for the ISPS Code initiative.

22nd November 2018
In 2009, Japan set up a military facility in Djibouti to combat rising incidents of piracy off Northeast Africa. A decade later, the pirates have been largely defeated, but Tokyo intends to expand its Djibouti base.

19th November 2018
A regional workshop for participants from a number of countries in the Gulf of Guinea, held in Tema, Ghana from 13 to 16 November 2018 has helped to build national capacity to enhance port security.

22nd October 2018
Basel’s public prosecutor has opened an investigation into the case of a Swiss-registered ship hijacked off the coast of Nigeria in September.

31st July 2018
The headquarters of the EU’s anti-piracy missions off the coast of Somalia will be moved from the UK to France and Spain next year as EU leaders revealed the latest consequence of Brexit.

30th June 2018
The Economist has reported on a new strategy to reduce piracy incidents and free hostages: don’t pay the ransom, do pay the expenses.