Apparently worried by escalated cases of attacks on their ships in the Gulf of Guinea, the Baltic and International Maritime Council, popularly called BIMCO; a body of global ship owners, have appealed to maritime powers to increase their presence and expand their collaboration with local states to curb piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
BIMCO is the largest of the international shipping associations representing ship owners; with membership which controls around 65 percent of the world’s tonnage. It has members in more than 120 countries, including managers, brokers and agents.
According to the highly respected body, around 40 ships have been attacked in the Gulf of Guinea in the past one year; they also recalled that recently, six seafarers were kidnapped from the MSC Mandy, which was on the way to Lagos.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that, armed robbers had also attacked two tankers off the coast of Nigeria on January 7.
According to data provided by IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, both attacks occurred only hours apart shortly after midnight near Lagos.
But, last week, in a passionate save our soul (SOS) to the world powers, BIMCO through its Head of Maritime Security; Jakob P. Larsen pleaded with the EU, USA and China to intervene and deploy anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea.
BIMCO, through Lansen said: “We look towards the EU, China and the United States to join forces and deploy naval capacity in the Gulf of Guinea to end this constant threat to seafarers”.
“BIMCO remains very thankful to the regional navies who are working tirelessly and with great sacrifice to secure their seas,” Larsen said.
“While these efforts command our deepest respect, pirates in the Gulf of Guinea can still operate largely unchecked in the open seas, outside of the territorial waters, and on occasion even strike inside territorial waters,” he acknowledged.
“Despite the efforts of regional navies to fight maritime crimes, “pirates in the Gulf of Guinea can still operate largely unchecked in the open seas, outside of the territorial waters, and on occasion even strike inside territorial waters.”
It added that, in addition to the strain put on seafarers, the current situation negatively impacts the economic potential of the sea of the countries in the region”
“It is time to step up law enforcement efforts, establish control of the sea in the Gulf of Guinea, relieve seafarers from the threat and the psychological pressure, and allow the countries in the region to harvest the full economic potential of the seas,” Larsen added.
The Yaoundé Code of Conduct was inspired by the United Nations’ Security Council Resolution 2018 (2011) and 2039 (2012) and contains several initiatives to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea.
In the 2013 Yaoundé Code of Conduct, states in the Gulf of Guinea recognized that piracy constituted an issue and initiated several initiatives to strengthen maritime security.
BIMCO explained that international sea and air law enforcement assets, such as naval ships with helicopters, would be able to deliver a concrete and rapid contribution to the maritime security situation.
“While longer term capacity building efforts are commended, what is needed now is substantially more assets at sea and in the air. It is an obvious solution which can deliver the necessary effect with the desired speed, without compromising the territorial integrity of the countries in the region,” Larsen concluded.
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