ECSA Meet on Somalia Operation
European Community Shipowners' Associations (ECSA)’s Maritime Security Working Group met with the EU NAVFOR Somalia Operation Atalanta at their operation headquarters in Rota, Spain. Representing the European shipping industry, the ECSA delegation met with the EU NAVFOR's team to discuss the current state of piracy off the coast of Somalia. The delegation also visited the naval assets participating in Operation Atalanta.For the past ten years, EU NAVFOR has deterred and prevented acts of piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Somalia, protected vessels of the World Food Programme (WFP) and African Union Mission Somalia (AMISOM), and monitored acts of illegal fishing."While it is true that today the number of attacks is minimal…
Armed Piracy in West African Waters Rise
Bulk of attacks occurred off Nigeria. Armed attacks on ships in West African waters nearly doubled in 2016, with pirates increasingly focused on kidnapping their crew for ransom off Nigeria's coast, a report said on Tuesday. A recent spate of attacks off Somalia, meanwhile, may also indicate a resurgence of piracy in East Africa as a result of less vigilance, the Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) project said. OBP, a project of the privately funded One Earth Future Foundation that encourages cooperation across the international maritime community to tackle piracy, recorded 95 attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea in 2016, up from 54 the previous year.
Gulf of Guinea Tanker Hijacking Report
According to Risk Intelligence, pirate networks in the Gulf of Guinea are focusing on product theft from tankers and this type of crime has evolved into a unique and highly lucrative form of maritime crime in the region. In the first eight months of 2013, some 19 attacks took place against vessels operating in the region. There were 25 such attacks in 2012. This form of piracy has become very costly. An estimated 117,000mt of product worth approximately $ 100 million has been stolen since 2010. The human cost of the pirate attacks is also significant.
Financial Aspects of Piracy Explained
Release of 'MV Leopard' crew hostages by Somali pirates, prompts Denmark researchers 'RiskIntelligence' to give general ransom & pirate 'investment' insights. Economic terminology such as “market” is used in the below to describe the criminal activities of hijacking and ransom. During February 2011 a total of 37 ships were held along the shoreline of Somalia, compared to only two in 2008. The average time of holding at the time the ship is relased rose from only three months in 2008 to 13 months on average in 2012.
Piracy Off the Horn of Africa
Remarks by Andrew J. Shapiro, Assistant Secretary, Bureau of Political-Military Affairs, given to the Center for American Progress in Washington, DC (March 27, 2012). Thank you for inviting me here today. I want to thank the Center for American Progress [CAP] for having me here to speak on the important subject of piracy off the Horn of Africa. CAP is a tremendous leader in developing new ideas and in approaching issues in new ways. I come here before you today to talk about an issue that the Obama administration has also had to approach in new and innovative ways. Despite the romantic notions surrounding piracy of previous centuries, modern day piracy represents a new and complex threat to the international community.
