A video highlighted by UK security Brokerage Company Asket allegedly shows pirates attacking a Singaporean vessel in the Gulf of Guinea on December 7, 2017.
In the video, eight armed men were seen approaching the vessel in a pirate skiff followed by the crew of the container ship, which thwart their attempts to board the ship.
The event reflects the long-standing incidence of attacks and danger for merchant ships in the region.
There were 52 Nigerian pirate attacks reported in 2016, according to Jake Longworth, EOS Risk Group, Intelligence and Advisory Department.
Mansur Dan-Ali, Defence Minister, Nigeria, recently commented on the increase in the rate of criminality in the Gulf of Guinea region in recent years.
Speaking at a two-day conference of G7 Friends of the Gulf of Guinea in Lagos, he said: “The criminal activities, which are mostly on Nigerian waters, include kidnapping, piracy/sea robbery, illegal unregulated and unreported fishing, smuggling, human and drug trafficking, illegal bunkering and crude oil theft.”
Prevention of piracy, armed robbery against ships and illicit maritime activity in west and central Africa is on the agenda at a meeting of the G7 Group of Friends of the Gulf of Guinea in Lagos, Nigeria (11-12 December), as reported by International Maritime Organization (IMO).
The meeting is reviewing progress made in implementing the Yaoundé Code of Conduct, which was signed by governments in the region, in 2013, to enhance cooperation to counter piracy and armed robbery at sea and other illicit maritime activity.
The meeting also stresses the importance for States in the region to promote and implement a combined effort to improve maritime security within their areas of jurisdiction and responsibility.
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