The United Kingdom-based Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club has raised alarm over possible upsurge in piracy in Nigeria, it has also issued practical guidance to its members to forestall being victims of such attacks in Nigeria and her neighbouring West Africa nation of Togo.
Among urgent precautions that it has advised its members is the turning-off of ships Automatic Identification System ( AIS)systems could be turned off at certain times to reduce risk.
The United Kingdom-based Protection and Indemnity (P&I) Club has raised alarm over possible upsurge in piracy in Nigeria, it has also issued practical guidance to its members to forestall being victims of such attacks in Nigeria and her neighbouring West Africa nation of Togo.
Among urgent precautions that it has advised its members is the turning-off of ships Automatic Identification System ( AIS)systems could be turned off at certain times to reduce risk.
The Automatic Identification System (AIS) is an automatic tracking system used on ships and by vessel traffic services (VTS) for identifying and locating vessels by electronically exchanging data with other nearby ships, AIS base stations, and satellites.
Confirming this on Saturday, Head of Loss Prevention at P&I Club in London; Stuart Edmonston says: “We have seen a sizable shift in pirate activity, from Somali to West Africa, and are witnessing an increase in incidents particularly offshore Nigeria.”
The Club subsequently advised that ships coming to Nigeria, “should be operating at a heightened state of security throughout, including additional watch-keeping, roving patrols and fire hoses rigged at the railings; outside doors of the accommodation closed and locked from the inside and temporary barriers erected around the outside stairwells – risk of attack is particularly high when the ship is at anchor or is drifting off a port e.g. close to pilot station or when carrying out ship-to-ship (STS) transfer operations”.
Other measures it reeled out include :
For the purposes of identifying suitable measures of prevention, mitigation and recovery in case of piracy, it is imperative that a ship and voyage-specific risk assessment is performed well in advance as recommended in Section 3 of the Best Management Practices Volume 4 (BMP4).
Limit the use of lighting at night and reduce the power or turn off the Automatic Identification System (AIS). However, local laws regulating the operation of AIS should be considered and AIS should be reactivated immediately in the event of the ship being attacked.
Review and comply with Guidelines for Owners, Operators and Masters for Protection against Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea Region, to be read in conjunction with BMP4.
Careful planning is important and procedures outlined in Section 6 of BMP4 should be followed. Where a vessel is on a regular rotation or at anchorage / conducting STS operations over a prolonged period particular care should be taken to limit external communications with third parties.
Report regularly to The Maritime Trade Information Sharing Centre Gulf of Guinea while operating within the Voluntary Reporting Area, which is shown on Admiralty chart Q6114.
In the event of any members considering the use of armed guards, seek the Club’s advice, as this is closely regulated by the West African authorities. A number of vessels this year have been detained in Nigeria simply for having security consultants on board (whether armed or unarmed).
The influential Club however acknowledged that, Nigeria and the Republic of Togo are partnering to combat rising piracy and oil theft off West Africa, even as it noted that “Togolese President Faure Essozimna Gnassingbe met Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari this month to discuss increasing security measures in the region”.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that Piracy has spiked in West Africa since 2008 , with and Nigeria claiming to losses in the neighbourhood of about $2 billion per year. The Nigerian government says it loses $800 million to illegal fishing activities and $9 million to piracy attacks. Another $16 million is squandered through oil thefts, and hundreds of millions of dollars are paid out in ransoms. Nigeria has destroyed 200 illegal oil refineries and 58 oil barges and arrested more than 80 pirate vessels in the past year.
On his part, the Togo president says that the Gulf of Guinea loses $7 billion annually due to piracy.
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