IMB Reports Significant Rise In Violent Incidents In Piracy In Gulf Of Guinea

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported an alarming increase of violent piracy incidents in West Africa.
According to the global body, in the first half of the year there were 32 attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, which includes five hijackings, compared to the 25 recorded in the whole of 2011, according to IMB figures.
“Off Nigeria alone there were 17 reports, compared with six in 2011. Togo reported five, including a hijacking, but had none last year,” said the IMB.

The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has reported an alarming increase of violent piracy incidents in West Africa.
According to the global body, in the first half of the year there were 32 attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, which includes five hijackings, compared to the 25 recorded in the whole of 2011, according to IMB figures.
“Off Nigeria alone there were 17 reports, compared with six in 2011. Togo reported five, including a hijacking, but had none last year,” said the IMB.
The IMB also noted the severity of the attacks used against ships navigating the Gulf of Guinea, with as many as 20 incidents during the six-month period involving armed pirates in skiffs. According to the IMB, the majority of these attacks occurred some way from the shoreline suggesting that pirates were increasingly using fishing boats and other vessels to reach their target.
Alarmingly, during just a five-minute period in June three separate ships, including a container ship and tanker, were fired on 135 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria’s oil capital Port Harcourt.
However, despite a rise in incidents in West Africa, off the coast of Somalia, an area synonymous with piracy, attacks fell during the first-half of this year, when compared to the first six months of 2011. According to IMB statistics, incidents related to piracy fell from 163 to 69 year-on-year, while hijackings also fell from 21 to 13.
“Somali pirate attacks cover a vast area, from the Southern Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Gulf of Oman to the Arabian Sea and Somali Basin, threatening all shipping routes in the north-west Indian Ocean,” said IMB director, Pottengal Mukundan.
Mukundan added that the drop in piracy levels could be a result of the international effort to disrupt piracy in the region.