West Africa is experiencing a surge in piracy, with well-organised hijackers targeting the region's growing oil and gas industries, writes national security expert Dr James Jay Carafano in 'World Review'. Although efforts to combat crime at sea have been having an impact - for example hijackings off Somalia fell by half in 2012 compared with 2011 with only 14 ships successfully boarded - the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports a sharp rise in activity in West Africa in 2012 with 58 incidents off the Gulf of Guinea.