Apparently cash-strapped and in dire need of patronage, maritime security firms have besieged waters of the Gulf of Guinea, where they have reduced their charges for anti-piracy activities.
At the peak of piracy in the last seven years, hundreds of maritime security firms sprang up to offer protection to shipping companies, with scores of merchant vessels being boarded and sailors taken hostage in pirate raids off the coast of conflict-torn Somalia.
Apparently cash-strapped and in dire need of patronage, maritime security firms have besieged waters of the Gulf of Guinea, where they have reduced their charges for anti-piracy activities.
At the peak of piracy in the last seven years, hundreds of maritime security firms sprang up to offer protection to shipping companies, with scores of merchant vessels being boarded and sailors taken hostage in pirate raids off the coast of conflict-torn Somalia.
However, attacks in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean have dropped from a peak of 237 in 2011 to just 10 in the first nine months of this year, the lowest since the piracy scourge began in 2008, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Cash-strapped maritime security firms are being forced to use fewer costly elite guards and to diversify into other businesses such as cyber security, as a steep decline in Somali pirate attacks and hotter competition erode fast-thinning margins.
Faced with a tougher operating environment, some firms have switched from using former U.S. and British marines and special forces to cheaper alternatives including guards from India, the Philippines and Estonia, said Ian May, Asia manager for Protection Vessels International.
More importantly, they have, found new markets in the waters of West Africa, where attacks on on oil-laden tankers and bulk carriers have been rising.
They have been using armed guards, deploying naval forces and defending ships with barbed wire or fire hoses.
“Day rates for embarked teams are continuously being squeezed to rock bottom,” said retired Rear Admiral Vasilis Politis, managing director of Greek armed guard company Marine Security International.
Our correspondents also discovered that, because of the apparent policies of most West African nations on privately contracted armed guards, the providers have had to go through the navies of such nations.
Shipping Position Daily investigations revealed that, maritime security companies in the Gulf of Guinea are trying to expand into new areas including cyber security for ships and the offshore industry, port security and training private coast guards.
“If companies stop using armed guards and the naval presence disappears then we would not have to wait for too long for another wave of successful attacks,” said Madis Madalik, chief operating officer of Estonian-based ESC Global Security.
Even though the price for a security team to protect a ship has slumped from an average of $40,000 per voyage to around $18,000-$20,000, our correspondent learnt that, in the Gulf of Guinea, it goes for far less.
For instance, one of such firms, SAA charges between $1000 and $3,000. Additional escort services can cost between $4,500 and $64,000 for lengthier voyage services, inclusive of bunkers.
A typical team comprises three or four guards, working round the clock and armed with semi-automatic weap ons to maximise fire power and rifles for accuracy and range.
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