Gulf Of Guinea News

Anti-piracy equipment company Palaemon reports that security threats occurred over the past week in the Singapore Straits, Gulf of Guinea and Red Sea. The incidents include:• 32 pirates used eight boats to attack a tug boat in the Singapore Strait, stealing a large quantity of scrap metal. The crew remained unharmed. The pirates had three boats on the port side, four on the starboard side, and one boat in the rear. Each had 3-4 perpetrators onboard, with14 boarding the barge to steal the metal.• An armed assailants targeted multiple passenger boats on the Bonny River in Nigeria…

Winward’s latest report, focused on Q1 2025, indicates a major change in how vessels experiencing GPS jamming are appearing on tracking maps.The average distance vessels “jump” to when their AIS is jammed grew from 600km in Q4 2024 to 6,300km in Q1 2025. “This distance completely disrupts trade and safety measures at sea, making it nearly impossible to track vessels within any realistic or relevant geographical vicinity,” says Windward.“The main GPS jamming patterns we saw in Q4 were dense areas and smaller circles.

The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported an increase in the number of crew taken hostage or kidnapped in 2024.The IMB annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report recorded 116 incidents against ships in 2024 compared to 120 in 2023 and 115 in 2022. It reveals that 94 vessels were boarded, 13 attempted attacks, six vessels hijacked and three fired upon.While the number of reported incidents in 2024 remains similar to those reported in 2023 and 2022, the number of crew taken hostage or kidnapped increased to 126 taken hostage in 2024 compared to 73 in 2023 and 41 in 2022.

Nigeria and India on Sunday agreed to deepen collaboration in maritime security, intelligence and counter-terrorism during a state visit to the West African country by Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.Modi is the first Indian premier to visit Nigeria in 17 years after an invitation by President Bola Tinubu, who is seeking investments from some of the world's biggest economies.Modi arrived in the capital Abuja on Saturday night and met Tinubu at the presidential villa on Sunday where the two leaders also discussed economic development, defence, healthcare and food security, a joint statement

Nearly four tons of cocaine were seized and 16 people arrested from a a pair of vessels off the coast of the Canary Islands.The major drug bust was a collaborative effort involving both French and Spanish customs under the authority of the Atlantic maritime prefect, in conjunction with the public prosecutor in Brest. The month-long mission involved customs officers on the Beechcraft KA350 aircraft, the patrol vessel Jean-François Deniau, and the Spanish customs patrol vessel Petrel.The first seizure occurred on September 26.

Specialist provider of offshore support services, Interocean Marine Services is supporting a floating dock ship project at the port of Takoradi in Ghana, Africa.Interocean is working in partnership with Prime Meridian Docks Ghana to build and operate the dock, and the project has already secured full financial backing of $137 million.When finished, it will feature a 13,500-tonne lift capacity floating dry dock, 18,000 square meters of reclaimed land, a 200-meter jetty, modern workshops…

Oil and shipping group Monjasa on Wednesday announced it has added two secondhand tankers to its owned fleet, in a move that targets growth in West Africa’s offshore industry.The vessels are the 17,200 DWT Monjasa Rover (formerly Fure Nord) and 7,858 DWT Monjasa Hunter (formerly Annelise Theresa), the latter of which joins as a unique fleet addition targeting length-restricted offshore oil and gas vessels in West Africa, including FPSOs, Monjasa said.According to Monjasa, the…

The Maritime Safety Committee of the IMO met for its 108th session at IMO Headquarters in London from May 15 to 24, and its outcomes included revising the roadmap for the development of a code to regulate autonomous ships (Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships - MASS).The Committee approved the report of the third session of the Joint MSC-LEG-FAL Working Group on MASS (MASS-JWG 3) and noted the significant progress made to date to develop the draft MASS Code, including the restructuring of chapters and refining the draft provisions.

The Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) will meet in person for its 108th session at IMO Headquarters in London from May 15 to 24, 2024. The Committee will address the urgent issue of maritime security in the Red Sea area. Since the hijacking of the MV Galaxy Leader in November 2023, which is still detained, there have been over 40 incidents where ships have been threatened or attacked in the Southern Red Sea and Gulf of Aden. These attacks have targeted seafarers, several of whom have been killed or suffered life-changing injuries.

Denmark on Monday sent a frigate to the Red Sea, where it will participate in a U.S.-led coalition to safeguard commercial traffic against attacks by Yemen's Houthi militants.The Iran-aligned Houthi have launched waves of exploding drones and missiles at commercial and navy vessels since Nov. 19, in response to Israel's military operations in Gaza.In response, shipping firms have since December diverted hundreds of vessels around southern Africa's Cape of Good Hope, a journey that takes 10-14 days longer and is more costly than the passage via the Red Sea and Suez Canal.Denmark…

In response to the escalating attacks on ships in the Red Sea, charity group Sailors' Society has initiated an urgent crisis appeal, shedding light on the severe human cost faced by seafarers caught in the conflict.Attacks by Yemen's Houthi militia on ships in the region since November have slowed trade between Asia and Europe, leading to widely reported supply chain disruptions and financial implications of rerouting ships.Sailors' Society said its appeal aims to draws attention to the danger posed to sailors by explosive drones and missiles.

Reported incidents of piracy and attacks on vessels are on the rise in key hotspot areas such as the Gulf of Guinea and Singapore Straits.Sixty-five incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were recorded globally in the first half of 2023, an increase from 58 incidents for the same period in 2022, according to a mid-year report from the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB). Of the 65 incidents reported, 57 vessels were boarded, four had attempted attacks, two were hijacked and two were fired upon. Perpetrators successfully boarded 90% of targeted vessels.

While piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has been declining since 2021, concerns have been raised about staffing, equipment and finance needed to continue anti-piracy efforts in the region.There are several challenges holding back the full operationalization of the Yaoundé Architecture, said Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee, Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs - Department of Peace Operations at the United Nations, while speaking to the United Nations Security Council meeting on June 22.

Six crew members who were kidnapped by pirates from a Danish-owned ship in the Gulf of Guinea in late March have been rescued from an undisclosed location in Nigeria, the vessel's owner said on Monday.The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer with 16 crew members was hijacked on March 25 by five armed assailants some 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire."All recovered crew members are in a relatively good health condition given the difficult circumstances they have been under in the last more than five weeks," Monjasa CEO Anders Ostergaard said in a statement.The crew members have all received medical checks and are now being repatriated to their home countries and families, he added.

A hijacked Singapore-registered oil tanker has been recovered and escorted to Abidjan port in Ivory Coast on Saturday, five days after it was captured by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, the Ivorian military said. On Tuesday, Singapore's port authority said the [Success 9] tanker had been boarded by "unidentified persons" about 300 nautical miles (555 km) off Ivory Coast with 20 crew of various nationalities aboard. A search operation by Ivory Coast's navy backed by a French navy aircraft located the vessel on Saturday, Ivorian Armed Forces Chief of Staff Lassina Doumbia said in a statement. "As for the crew, they are safe and sound," he said.

The Singapore-flagged chemical tanker Success 9 has been attacked by pirates. Praesidium International reports the attack occurred on April 10 300NM south of Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in the Gulf of Guinea.The number of people that boarded the vessel is unknown, AIS transmission has been lost, and the incident is on-going. Praesidium notes that the vessel regularly travels in the region and was likely involved in bunkering operations.Fuel theft is suspected as a motive for this and other attacks mounted in the region. The Liberian-flagged tanker Monjasa Reformer was attacked in March 2023.

The French navy on Friday escorted a tanker to port in the Gulf of Guinea after pirates abandoned the vessel and kidnapped some of the crew, the ship's owner told Reuters.The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer with 16 crew members was hijacked [Saturday, March 25] by five armed assailants 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire.The hijackers abandoned the ship late [last] Thursday but took some crew members with them, Danish shipping company Monjasa, which owns the vessel, said on Friday."We have our vessel secured. We have our crew members secured on board, or part of the crew members. So right now we are being escorted by the French Navy," Chief Operating Officer Svend Stenberg Molholt said in an interview.

Pirates have abandoned a Danish-owned ship that was hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea last week, and have taken some crew members with them, while others have been brought to safety, the vessel's owner said on Friday.The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer with 16 crew members was boarded by five armed people 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire, its owner said at the time.The Monjasa shipping company declined to say how many crew members were still missing.The Reformer subsequently went missing, but was later located by the French navy off Sao Tome and Principe, Monjasa said in a statement."Our thoughts are with the crew members still missing and their families during this stressful period.

A Danish-owned vessel that was boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday was spotted about 540 miles further off shore on Tuesday, according to a maritime cooperation centre monitoring security in the area.The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer was boarded by five armed people some 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire. All 16 crew sought refuge in a safe room aboard, according to the cooperation centre.Danish marine fuels supplier Monjasa, owner of Monjasa Reformer, said on Tuesday all communications channels with the vessel were down. The company was unable to provide further detail on Wednesday for security reasons…

Pirates have attacked and boarded a Danish-owned ship in the Gulf of Guinea and all communications channels with the vessel are down, a spokesperson for shipping company Monjasa said on Tuesday.All 16 crew members sought refuge in a safe room onboard the Monjasa Reformer vessel, the spokesperson said.The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker, which was sitting idle, was attacked on Saturday about 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire.The vessel is operated by Dubai-based Montec Ship Management, which is owned by Monjasa.Montec reported the incident to a maritime cooperation centre operated by the British and French navies to maintain safety in the Gulf of Guinea.The operator is working with all relevant maritime authorities in the region…

In January 2019, the Korean-flagged fishing vessel Oyang 77 sailed south toward international waters off Argentina. The vessel had a known history of nefarious activities, including underreporting its catch and illegally dumping low-value fish to make room in its hold for more lucrative catch.At 2 a.m. on Jan. 10, the Oyang 77 turned off its location transponder at the edge of Argentina’s exclusive economic zone – a political boundary that divides Argentina’s national waters from international waters, or the high seas. At 9 p.m. on Jan.

A Danish court on Monday found a Nigerian man guilty of endangering the lives of Danish military personnel in a shooting incident last November involving Denmark's navy and a crew of suspected Nigerian pirates in the Gulf of Guinea.However, the court declined to sentence the Nigerian, Lucky Frances, 40, despite a call from the prosecutor for a prison sentence of 12 to 15 months.As part of international anti-piracy efforts, Denmark deployed a frigate to the Gulf of Guinea in October last year.

For 21 years, Fort Prinzenstein's caretaker James Ocloo Akorli has watched the Gulf of Guinea's tempestuous waters eat away at both his livelihood and his heritage.The 18th century Danish citadel, set along Ghana's palm-fringed coastline, was once the last stop for captured Africans before they were forced onto slave ships bound for the Americas.Today, three-quarters of the UNESCO World Heritage site has been swallowed by the sea."There have been mornings after a storm when I have come to find large parts of the fort have just disappeared…