shippingposition
  • Home
  • News
  • Editorial
    • Vox Pop
  • Maritime safety
  • Oil and Gas
  • Personality
  • Health
No Result
View All Result
shippingposition

Home » Maersk Urges Better Military Response to West Africa Piracy

Maersk Urges Better Military Response to West Africa Piracy

by Joshua
January 20, 2021
in Personality

The world’s biggest shipping company; Maersk Line is demanding a more effective military response to surging pirate attacks and record kidnappings off the coast of West Africa.

Recall that, the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre said in its January 13 report that the number of attacks on vessels globally jumped 20% last year to 195, with 135 crew kidnapped. The Gulf of Guinea accounted for 95% of hostages taken in 22 separate instances, and all three of the hijackings that occurred, the IMB had added.

The attacks have pushed up insurance and other costs for shippers operating off West Africa, with some resorting to hiring escort vessels manned by armed navy personnel. A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, which transports about 15% of the globe’s seaborne freight, said decisive action needs to be taken.

It added that, “it is unacceptable in this day and age that seafarers cannot perform their jobs of ensuring a vital supply chain for this region without having to worry about the risk of piracy,” said Aslak Ross, head of marine standards at Copenhagen-based Maersk. “The risk has reached a level where effective military capacity needs to be deployed.”

The Gulf of Guinea encompasses a vast tract of the Atlantic Ocean that’s traversed by more than 20,000 vessels a year, making it difficult for under-resourced governments to police. Fringed by an almost 4,000-mile-long shoreline that stretches from Senegal to Angola, it serves as the main thoroughfare for crude oil exports and imports of refined fuel and other goods.

Twenty-five African governments, including all those bordering on the gulf, signed the Yaoundé Code of Conduct in 2013 to tackle piracy. It aims to facilitate information sharing and established five maritime zones to be jointly patrolled, but has been only partially implemented and most navies remain focused on safeguarding their own waters.

Bertrand Monnet, a professor of criminal risk management at France’s EDHEC Business School who has studied piracy in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta region for 15 years, estimates that a maximum of 15 bands operate offshore West Africa, each comprising 20 to 50 members.

“The Delta both provides the launch area for the pirates but is also where they go back to when they have their kidnapped crew” to negotiate ransoms, said Max Williams, security firm Africa Risk Compliance’s London-based chief operating officer.

Nigeria, the regional powerhouse, has taken the lead in preventing attacks and its navy says it has arrested more than 100 suspects who are facing trial under a new anti-piracy law – the first of its kind in the region. The government plans to commission nearly $200 million of new equipment this year, including helicopters, drones and high-speed boats, to boost the navy’s capabilities.

Nigeria is committed to “ensuring that this menace of piracy is gotten rid of in our waters, so that those with legitimate business in shipping, fishing, and oil and gas can go about their business without fear,” Rear-Admiral Oladele Daji, commander of the Nigerian Navy’s western fleet, said in an interview.

 


Related Posts

MONDAY INTERVIEW: There is no silent recruitment, no cover-up recruitment, no underground recruitment— AC Abdullahi Maiwada

MONDAY INTERVIEW: There is no silent recruitment, no cover-up recruitment, no underground recruitment— AC Abdullahi Maiwada

July 7, 2025
INTERVIEW: “Nigeria has a very good chance of winning the IMO Council seat”—Dr. Paul Adalikwu

INTERVIEW: “Nigeria has a very good chance of winning the IMO Council seat”—Dr. Paul Adalikwu

June 30, 2025
INTERVIEW: “Minister of Marine and Blue Economy should be designated as Coordinating Minister of the Blue Economy”— Capt. Ebubeogu

INTERVIEW: “Minister of Marine and Blue Economy should be designated as Coordinating Minister of the Blue Economy”— Capt. Ebubeogu

June 24, 2025
MONDAY INTERVIEW:   “Let us reduce the rate of duty on used vehicles because fingers are not equal”—Dr Kayode Farinto

MONDAY INTERVIEW:   “Let us reduce the rate of duty on used vehicles because fingers are not equal”—Dr Kayode Farinto

June 16, 2025

Discussion about this post

Latest News

Vessels Expected At Lagos Ports As At 9th July, 2025

FG Donates 3,500 Life Jackets to Boost Waterways Safety in Ogun State

July 9, 2025

Dangote Commends NPA-Led OSS Committee, Donates Bus to Support Operations

Customs Intercepts ₦654m Worth of Undeclared Foreign Currency at Kano Airport, Hands Over Suspects to EFCC

Vessels Expected At Lagos Ports As At 9th July, 2025

CRFFN Dismisses Viral Court Judgement Reports, Reaffirms Regulatory Mandate over Freight Forwarders

Lagos Govt. Dismantles Illegal Checkpoints Along Badagry Expressway

Nigeria Customs Sensitises International Airline Operators on Currency Declaration

PHOTO NEWS Collaboration For Trade Facilitation

Vessels Expected At Lagos Ports As At 8th July, 2025

Nigerian Exporters Lament as Road Freight to Ghana via Benin, Togo Costs Over ₦10 Million Per Truck  

NIWA Responds to Lagos State’s Call to Halt Sand-Filling Approvals on Waterways 

Shippers’ Council Recovers Over N5.5 Million in Container Deposit Refunds, Demurrage Disputes in Q1

kindly like our Facebook page

Health

Contraceptive Pills Can’t Cause Cervical Cancer – Expert
Health

Contraceptive Pills Can’t Cause Cervical Cancer – Expert

June 30, 2025

Mrs Roseline Akinlabi, Adolescent and Youth Sexual Reproductive Health Desk Officer, Osun Primary Healthcare Board, says contraceptive pills cannot cause...

ONIONS: The Good Old Healing Vegetable

KNOW YOUR BODY PARTS: The Liver

June 16, 2025
ONIONS: The Good Old Healing Vegetable

ONIONS: The Good Old Healing Vegetable

June 16, 2025
Why Prostate Disorder Cases Are Increasing Among Nigerian Men – Experts

Why Prostate Disorder Cases Are Increasing Among Nigerian Men – Experts

June 1, 2025
20m Nigerians Live With Mental Health Issues, Says WHO

20m Nigerians Live With Mental Health Issues, Says WHO

June 1, 2025
Health Facts You Didn’t Know

How Your Habit Affects Fertility

May 19, 2025
Fruits For Raining Season

Fruits For Raining Season

May 19, 2025
See Mental Illness Like Other Treatable Diseases – Says Suicide Survivor

Health Facts You Didn’t Know

May 19, 2025
Alligator Pepper: Benefits, FAQ, Side Effects, & Warning

Alligator Pepper: Benefits, FAQ, Side Effects, & Warning

April 28, 2025
Water And Health: The Relationship That Helps Life

Water And Health: The Relationship That Helps Life

April 28, 2025

© 2021 Shippingposition

Navigate Site

  • Home
  • About Us
  • Contact us
  • Privacy Policy
  • Sitemap
  • Terms

Follow Us

No Result
View All Result
  • News
  • Coast To Coast
  • Oil and Gas
  • Maritime Education
  • The Terminals
  • Maritime safety

© 2021 Shippingposition