Maritime Security Updates Archive

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.

13th January 2017
The Djibouti Code of Conduct has seen its scope significantly broadened to cover other illicit maritime activities, including human trafficking and illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing.

15th December 2016
Industry security experts have concluded that maritime crime will not be stopped any time soon – and that cyber incidents would continue to expand in frequency and severity. This was the consensus at BIMCO’s first ever Maritime Security Seminar in Copenhagen yesterday.

29th November 2016
A new research project hosted by Politics and International Relations academics and Cardiff University’s Crime and Security Research Institute will study lessons from maritime security capacity building in the Western Indian Ocean.

25th November 2016
NATO has ended Operation Ocean Shield after a sharp drop-off in attacks by Somali pirates.

25th November 2016
On 25 November 2016, the European Council extended Operation Atalanta’s mandate to deter, disrupt and repress acts of piracy off the coast of Somalia, until 31 December 2018.

14th November 2016
The International Chamber of Shipping Annual Review 2016 addresses preventing piracy on pages 36 and 37.

8th November 2016
Merchant vessels sailing through busy shipping lanes between Somalia and Yemen may be underestimating the risk of piracy and terrorism following two attempted attacks last month, maritime officials say.

17th October 2016
The African Charter on Maritime Security, Safety and Development aims to solidify Africa’s commitment to an efficient and effective management of its oceans, seas and waterways so as to ensure sustainable, equitable and beneficial exploration of these critical resources.

10th October 2016
Africa boasts of an abundance of natural resources, in particular aquatic and marine resources, with a potential that has not yet been fully tapped in the context of economic growth and sustainable development.

9th September 2016
An International Maritime Organization (IMO)-led maritime security table top exercise took place in Yaoundé, Cameroon from 6 to 8 September for participants from a range of government departments and national agencies, including the Maritime Authority.

26th July 2016
Despite their strategic importance, many African ports are easily accessible to criminals and susceptible to various threats.

25th July 2016
Namibia officially opened its first naval school in a move to deal with threats to national security.

12th July 2016
Stuart Edmonston, Head of Loss Prevention at UK P&I Club, together with Hellenic War Risks and Terra Firma Risk Management, highlights the importance of preparation in kidnap response management for shipping companies operating in West Africa.

4th July 2016
While the matter of maritime piracy has seemingly subdued from its high profile peaks of a few years ago, Stuart Edmonston, Head of Loss Prevention at UK P&I Club, together with Hellenic War Risks and Terra Firma Risk Management, highlight the growth of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and considers the reasons behind the rise in kidnaps for ransom.

21st June 2016
An maritime security chart dated 14 June 2016 for West Africa is available

18th June 2016
The new FR/UK Centre, called Marine Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG), will commence operations at 0800 GMT on 20th June 2016.

14th June 2016
A recent incident involving a drone in the Suez Canal is causing a marine insurance company to warn over their usage onboard vessels.

28th May 2016
Cost of shipping goods to Nigeria has increased rapidly due to rising pirates’ attacks on vessels and crew on Nigerian territorial waters.

6th May 2016
Unidentified attackers struck a Chevron Corp. platform off the Nigerian coast this past week, causing an oil spill and forcing the company to shut the facility.

29th April 2016
The Chief of the Naval Staff has tasked companies providing security for oil exploration companies operating in the Niger Delta to support the efforts of the Nigerian Navy in tackling crimes on waterways. He said the private security companies which are partners with the Nigerian Navy, have critical roles to play in the security of our maritime environment.

26th April 2016
Nigeria is losing about USD 1.5 billion a month due to piracy, armed robbery at sea, smuggling, and fuel supply fraud as piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea increase at an alarming rate, the UN Security Council was told at a debate on Monday.

20th April 2016
Two crew members of an offshore supply vessel were kidnapped by pirates while their ship was underway around 97 nautical miles south west of Brass, Nigeria.

14th April 2016
Naval forces of 34 countries are focusing on maritime threats from non state terrorist groups like al-Qaida, the Islamic State group and even the Houthi rebels in Yemen during the largest maritime exercise in the world.

7th April 2016
Extensive maritime security training involving countries operating under the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) has taking place from March 20-April 7 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.

1st April 2016
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has raised alarm over what it termed "persistent pirates' attacks on ships within the country's waterways." The agency said it would push for quick passage of the Anti-Piracy Laws presently before the National Assembly, as a way of combating the situation.

17th March 2016
ISWAN welcomes the news of the jailing of Somali pirate kingpin Mohamed Abdi Hassan in Belgium for 20 years for the hijacking of the Pompei, a Belgian flagged ship captured by pirates in April 2009. Two other Somali pirates are in jail in connection with the abduction of same ship, sentenced to nine and ten years.

6th March 2016
Operating as part of Combined Task Force 150, Australian ship HMAS Darwin has uncovered and seized a large weapons cache following the boarding of a small fishing style vessel in the Middle East.

24th February 2016
The Dryad Maritime report illustrates the uncertainty surrounding maritime security issues in the Gulf of guinea in 2016; coming fast on the release of Dryad’s annual crime statistics which had shown a lull in attacks offshore West Africa.

10th February 2016
Though, many pirate attacks taking place in Nigerian territorial waters and other parts of Gulf of Guinea (GG) are hidden from the public domain, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in its recent report has rated Nigeria as a hotspot for violent attacks and armed robbery at sea.

8th February 2016
The Nigerian Navy has prevented a group of pirates from hijacking the 28,844 dwt containership Safmarine Kuramo carrying 25 crew members on February 5 off Nigeria, Maersk Line confirmed to World Maritime News

8th February 2016
UK-based global trade union Nautilus International has joined the Royal Association of Dutch Shipowners and 14 other organisations from the maritime cluster to urge Dutch MPs to give the long-awaited go-ahead to the carriage of private armed guards on Dutch-flagged ships.

8th February 2016
Since 2012, there has been an annual decline in the total number of reported attempted and actual attacks in the region. The decline has led to calls for reforms to four key international counter-piracy institutions in the new ‘post-piracy’ environment.

22nd January 2016
A gang of pirates chased and fired at a car carrier off the coast of Nigeria this week in what is believed to be the first pirate attack in the region in 2016.

8th January 2016
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) recently sponsored a maritime security conference that provided participants with an update on piracy and other threats to shipping.

4th January 2016
Islamic State militants clashed with security forces near Libya's Es Sider oil export terminal on Monday killing two guards, while an oil storage tank at nearby Ras Lanuf was set on fire during fighting there.

2nd December 2015
Institute for Security Studies (ISS) conflict management and peace building researcher Timothy Walker maintains the recent and sudden cancellation of the Maritime and Coastal Security conference and exhibition in Cape Town “adds to a worrying trend” of cancelled or deferred African maritime conferences, summits and symposiums.

24th November 2015
The current practice of using Nigerian Navy (and Nigerian security forces in general) is coming under review by the Buhari presidency.