Imb Prc News

Crew kidnappings and violent attacks on vessels in the oil-rich West Africa region have soared in 2020, with 77 seafarers taken hostage or kidnapped for ransom since January, according to the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest piracy report.The Gulf of Guinea off West Africa is increasingly dangerous for commercial shipping, accounting for just over 90% of maritime kidnappings worldwide. Meanwhile, ship hijackings are at their lowest since 1993, the report said.“Violence against crews is a growing risk in a workforce already under immense pressure,” says IMB Director Michael Howlett. “In the Gulf of Guinea attackers armed with knives and guns now target crews on every type of vessel.

The Gulf of Guinea remains a high risk area  for piracy and armed robbery, according to the International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) report for the third quarter of 2019. The region accounts for 86% of crew taken hostage and nearly 82% of crew kidnappings globally, it said.In July a general cargo vessel was hijacked approximately 120nm SW from Brass. Ten crew members were kidnapped from the vessel and released four weeks later. In August a bulk carrier and a general cargo vessel were boarded within hours of each other at Douala anchorage, Cameroon and a total of seventeen crew were kidnapped from the vessels.Within six weeks all kidnapped crew were released.

The seas off West Africa's coastline are now the most dangerous in the world for shipping, the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest report revealed.According to the report, of the 75 seafarers taken hostage onboard or kidnapped for ransom worldwide so far this year, 62 were captured in the Gulf of Guinea – off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon.The IMB Piracy Reporting Center (IMB PRC) recorded 78 incidents of piracy worldwide and armed robbery against ships in the first half of 2019, compared with 107 incidents for the same period of 2018. Overall, 57 vessels were boarded successfully, representing 73% of all attacks.Pirates killed one person…

Piracy increased on the world’s seas in 2018, with a marked rise in attacks against ships and crews around West Africa, the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest annual piracy report reveals.Worldwide, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) recorded 201 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery in 2018, up from 180 in 2017.The Gulf of Guinea remains increasingly dangerous for seafarers. Reports of attacks in waters between the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo more than doubled in 2018, accounting for all six hijackings worldwide, 13 of the 18 ships fired upon, 130 of the 141 hostages taken globally, and 78 of 83 seafarers kidnapped for ransom.The region saw a significant new spike in violence in the last quarter of 2018.

The second quarterly report from the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) shows that all 2018 crew kidnappings have so far occurred in the Gulf of Guinea in six separate incidents.A total of 107 incidents were reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in the first six months of 2018. In total, 69 vessels were boarded, with 23 attempted attacks, 11 vessels fired upon and four vessels hijacked. No vessels were reported as hijacked in the second quarter.The number of crewmembers taken hostage increased from 63 to 102 compared to the same time period in 2017.The number of crew kidnappings decreased from 41 by the second quarter in 2017 to 25 so far in 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). IMB's Piracy Reporting Center recorded 66 incidents in the first quarter of 2018, up from 43 for the same period in 2017, and 37 in Q1 2016. Worldwide in the first three months of 2018, 100 crew were taken hostage and 14 kidnapped from their vessels. A total of 39 vessels were boarded, 11 fired upon and four vessels hijacked. IMB received a further 12 reports of attempted attacks. The Gulf of Guinea accounts for 29 incidents in 2018 Q1, more than 40 percent of the global total. Of the 114 seafarers captured worldwide, all but one were in this region.

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. The flagship global report notes that, while piracy rates were down compared to the same period in 2016, there is continuing concern over attacks in the Gulf of Guinea and in South East Asia. The increase in attacks off the coast of Venezuela and other security incidents against vessels off Libya - including an attempted boarding in the last quarter - highlights the need for vigilance in other areas.

Piracy in Somalia is making a comeback and the Gulf of Guinea remains the world’s most active hotspot for crew kidnappings,  UK Chamber of Shipping said quoting latest data. The report said that during the first three months of 2017, armed pirates hijacked two vessels off the coast of Somalia, an area in which previously no merchant ship had been hijacked for five years. Four further incidents in the region were also attempted this past quarter, according to the latest report from the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC). Meanwhile, in the Gulf Guinea, armed robberies and kidnappings were as prolific as ever during the first quarter.

Worldwide, International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recorded 37 piracy and armed robbery incidents in the first quarter of 2016, down from 54 in the same period last year. Three vessels were hijacked and 29 boarded, with 26 crew kidnapped for ransom and a further 28 held hostage. As piracy on the world’s seas continues to fall, new figures from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and IMB highlight growing violence off the coast of West Africa, where 44 seafarers have been captured so far this year. With Nigeria and Ivory Coast accounting for two of the three hijackings recorded globally, and all 28 hostages, the Gulf of Guinea dominates world piracy in terms of numbers and severity.

As piracy on the world’s seas continues to fall, new figures from the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) highlight growing violence off the coast of West Africa, where 44 seafarers have been captured so far this year. Worldwide, IMB recorded 37 piracy and armed robbery incidents in the first quarter of 2016, down from 54 in the same period last year. Three vessels were hijacked and 29 boarded, with 26 crew kidnapped for ransom and a further 28 held hostage. With Nigeria and Ivory Coast accounting for two of the three hijackings recorded globally, and all 28 hostages, the Gulf of Guinea dominates world piracy in terms of numbers and severity. Additionally the region saw 16 crew kidnapped from chemical and product tankers in four separate incidents.

Piracy and armed robbery on the world’s seas is persisting at levels close to those in 2014, despite reductions in the number of ships hijacked and crew captured, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) annual piracy report reveals. IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) recorded 246 incidents in 2015, one more than in 2014. The number of vessels boarded rose 11 percent to 203, one ship was fired at, and a further 27 attacks were thwarted. Armed with guns or knives, pirates killed one seafarer and injured at least 14.

Despite an overall global reduction in serious piracy attacks this year, the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) cautions against complacency in its 2015 report for the year to 30 September. In Southeast Asia, a piracy crackdown appears to be bearing fruit, with only two hijackings reported in the third quarter of the year. Indonesian and Malaysian authorities have also arrested and in some cases prosecuted, members of product tanker hijacking gangs, notably those behind the MT Sun Birdie and MT Orkim Harmony attacks. “The robust actions taken particularly by the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities – including the arrest of one the alleged masterminds – is precisely the type of deterrent required” commented P Mukundan, IMB Director.

One coastal tanker is hijacked every two weeks on average in Southeast Asia making it the most dangerous seas, the latest piracy report from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has warned. The IMB says more than half of all sea pirate attacks since the beginning of 2015 have been in Southeast Asia. A report in the Voice of America quoted Pottengal Mukundan, director of the IMB saying that armed pirates attack small oil ships in the area about every two weeks. It was a disturbing trend because if firm action is not taken then we expect that the violence will increase and the pirates will get a little more audacious in the kind of targets that they will look for, he said.

A hijacked Malaysian coastal tanker has been recovered by the prompt actions of the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) off the coast of Malaysia. The owners of the Malaysian tanker lost contact with the tanker at 2200 hours on 28 January 2015. The tanker, with ten crew members on board and carrying 700 metric tonnes of marine fuel oil was off Tanjung Ayam at the Southern entrance to the South China Sea. Fearing that the vessel may have been hijacked, MMEA requested the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre to track and provide the position of the vessel. MMEA then deployed a number of vessels in the area and finally located the tanker, in the South China Sea about 35 nautical miles north east of the location of the hijack. The vessel was then under control of nine pirates.

The ICC Commercial Crime Services' International Maritime Bureau (IMB) is warning small tankers to maintain strict antipiracy measures in the South China Sea following a spate of tanker hijackings in the region, GAC reported in its daily Hot Port News report. At least six known cases of coastal tankers being hijacked for their cargoes of diesel or gas oil have been reported since April this year, sparking fears of a new trend in pirate attacks in the area. Up until then, the majority of attacks in the region were vessels boarded for petty theft. The latest hijackings seem to follow a specific modus operandi, where armed pirates seize a small tanker and siphon off its cargo to large bunker barges or other small tankers in a ship-to-ship operation.

Piracy at sea has reached its lowest levels in six years, with 264 attacks recorded worldwide in 2013, a 40% drop since Somali piracy peaked in 2011, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said. Just 15 incidents were reported off Somalia in 2013, down from 75 in 2012, and 237 in 2011. IMB’s annual global piracy report shows more than 300 people were taken hostage at sea last year and 21 were injured, nearly all with guns or knives. A total of 12 vessels were hijacked, 202 were boarded, 22 were fired upon and a further 28 reported attempted attacks.

The International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) advises vigilance though attacks decline. IMB's latest quarterly report on 'Piracy and Armed Robbery Against Ships' recorded a total of 66 incidents worldwide in the first three months of 2013. This is down markedly from the 102 incidents reported for the corresponding period in 2012. In the first three months of 2013, four vessels were hijacked, 51 vessels were boarded, seven were fired upon and four reported attempted attacks. Seventy five crew members were taken hostage, 14 kidnapped and one killed. The Gulf of Guinea represents an area of concern with 15 incidents recorded, including three hijackings. Nigeria accounted for 11 incidents in the region. Guns were reported in at least nine of these attacks.

The ICC International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre recommends extreme vigilance aboard ships in West African waters. Since mid-August three vessels have been hijacked by pirates in this region. These recent attacks are notable as they have all been against tankers, with the purpose of stealing the valuable cargoes on board. Furthermore, the incidents reported off West Africa are characterised by the degree of violence used against crew. On 18 August 2012, a tanker was hijacked whilst at anchorage off Lome. Another tanker was attacked nearby on 28 August 2012. On 5 September 2012, a tanker was boarded whilst at anchorage off Lagos.