Maritime Security Updates Archive

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.

29th June 2018
The new Maritime Global Security website, www.maritimeglobalsecurity.org, is a collection of all security-related guidance produced by the industry, as well as links to other useful maritime and military security resources, and serves as a ‘one stop shop’ for maritime security advice.

25th June 2018
European Council on Refugees and Exiles: European Union adopted conclusions on the Horn of Africa and the Red Sea at the 3628th meeting of the Council on 25 June 2018

18th June 2018
Armed former Royal Marines secretly joined passengers on a luxury cruise to protect them from pirates.

21st May 2018
The number of piracy incidents doubled off the coast of East Africa in 2017 compared to 2016, an international maritime body said in its latest report. This indicates that Somali criminal networks are still capable of sophisticated attacks, according to the report by One Earth Future (OEF)'s Oceans Beyond Piracy program.

11th April 2018
A surge in armed attacks against ships around West Africa is pushing up global levels of piracy and armed robbery at sea, warns the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

6th April 2018
This week's missile attack on a tanker off Yemen sparked diplomatic outrage, but it is unlikely to affect merchant traffic in the Red Sea, according to multiple assessments.

23rd March 2018
International experts and port managers are meeting in a workshop in Yaounde to analyse the current situation of stowaway passengers on ships and define strategies to reduce their number.

23rd March 2018
The latest Africa Center Maritime Security program examined the Seychelles’ approach to combatting criminality on the seas and lessons for other maritime states in Africa.

11th January 2018
A total of 180 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported to the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in 2017, according to the latest IMB report. It is the lowest annual number of incidents since 1995, when 188 reports were received.

5th January 2018
Eromosele Abiodun writes that the report by the International Maritime Bureau on rising cases of piracy in Nigeria focused on government agencies responsible for tackling the menace.

18th December 2017
The increased threat of piracy off Somalia and Yemen since the Aris 13 hijacking in March is set to continue due to heightened insecurity in the High Risk Area.

12th December 2017
The G7 Friends of the Gulf of Guinea Group met in Nigeria to join forces with regional stakeholders to tackle the issues of maritime crimes bedeviling the region.

12th December 2017
Friday 8th December 2017 marks the ninth anniversary of EU Naval Force Somalia’s Operation Atalanta, the successful EU Naval Force counter- piracy operation in the Gulf of Aden and the Somali Basin.

11th December 2017
There have been 15 attacks against commercial ships reported within a 60 nautical miles radius of Bony Island over recent weeks, data from maritime security firm Dryad Maritime shows.

19th November 2017
EU NAVFOR Somalia’s Flagship, the Italian vessel ITS Virginio Fasan, has apprehended six suspected pirates and seized their vessels.

9th November 2017
The UN Security Council encouraged flag States and port States to consider development of measures on board vessels, including, where applicable, developing regulations for the use of privately contracted armed security personnel on board ships, aimed at preventing and suppressing piracy off the coast of Somalia.

1st November 2017
The United States of America has issued a Maritime Alert to warn ships to be vigilant when approaching Nigerian waters.

31st October 2017
The Nigerian Government has entered into a three years agreement with an Israeli firm over maritime security issues.

26th October 2017
Nigeria's navy recently reinforced its longstanding policy against embarked private maritime security contractors

23rd October 2017
Bulk carrier Friederike requested assistance after 4 Nigerian stowaways mutinied and were a threat to crew.

19th October 2017
A total of 121 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in the first nine months of 2017, according to the International Chamber of Commerce’s (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest quarterly report on maritime piracy.

2nd October 2017
Even though the working ports are now considered safe for ships and crew, maritime insurance company Gard cautioned ships’ crews to remain vigilant as the situation in Libyan territorial waters remains volatile.

6th September 2017
Recent attacks against merchant shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Bab Al Mandeb have highlighted the risks associated with transiting these waters. The multiple types of risks and the broad expanse of ocean on which these attacks can occur dictate that Naval Forces must be used in the most efficient manner possible. To assist in this, CMF is establishing a Maritime Security Transit Corridor (MSTC).

8th August 2017
The line between maritime human trafficking and a flow of refugees at sea has been blurred. In response to the ongoing migrant wave, the group Defend Europe recently raised enough money to charter a 422-ton ship, the C-Star, to convey a team of its activists to Libya.

8th August 2017
UKMTO operating from Dubai, has issued an advisory following information from the UK Government relating to ship transits through the Bab El Mandeb (BeM) and associated waters. This UKMTO Notice 001 August /2017 replaces previous guidance UKMTO Notice 001 July 2017 (which refers to CMF advice dated 16 July 2017) and UKMTO Notice 002 July 2017.

17th July 2017
New advice from Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) issued yesterday says that recent attacks against merchant shipping in the Gulf of Aden and Bab-el-Mandeb have highlighted there are still risks associated with transits through these waters.

16th July 2017
The African Charter on Maritime Security, Safety and Development in Africa (the Lomé Charter) is the outcome of the African Union Extraordinary Summit held in Lomé, Togo in October 2016. The idea of the Lomé special session was to build up on the results of previous summits held in Yaoundé (June 2013) and the Seychelles (February 2015) and to take the African blue economy and maritime security agendas forward.

8th July 2017
Following the hijacking of the Aris 13 in March, the first merchant vessel to be taken by pirates operating from Somalia since May 2012, at least half a dozen further instances of attacks have been reported in its coastal waters.

30th June 2017
The carriage of firearms on board merchant ships is a complex legal issue with IMO Member States taking diverse positions. Given the truly global nature of the shipping industry with many stakeholders, shipping benefits from harmonization of procedures, adoption of common minimum standards and clarity with respect to national legal regimes, which represents the core of the IMO's work.

27th June 2017
Following primary research recently conducted at Montagne Posse Prison, Seychelles, little has changed behind the drivers to commit maritime crime. To prevent piracy, a more nuanced approach to understanding the behaviour might be key to a solution.

9th May 2017
Yemen’s worsening conflict is contributing to a spike in piracy in the region, with Somali pirates taking advantage of a reduced international naval presence and more readily available weaponry to carry out attacks.

1st May 2017
Despite reduced pirate activity off the western Indian Ocean in recent years, the pirate networks responsible for the original Somali piracy crisis have sustained themselves through small-scale attacks and involvement in an various maritime crimes, the piracy watchdog Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) said in its annual report released Monday.

27th March 2017
Piracy problems are just the tip of the iceberg of Africa’s maritime security challenges.

17th March 2017
Somali pirates released a hijacked oil tanker and eight Sri Lankan crew on Thursday, a Somali security official and the pirates said, bringing the first hijacking since 2012 to an unusually swift conclusion without the payment of a ransom.

3rd March 2017
Strategies to combat piracy already exist, but countries must navigate the pitfalls that hinder implementation.

1st March 2017
Despite having drawn up several key maritime strategies, the African Union (AU) is failing to implement them owing to lack of resources and expertise. This inertia must change in 2017, else the AU risks marginalising maritime security work.