‘Maritime UK’ Voices Concerns Over Piracy In West Africa

Maritime UK has expressed sincere concern over the steady rise in piracy, and piracy-related activity off the coast of West Africa.
The efforts of the UK Government, the shipping industry, Royal Navy and international armed forces have shown a marked reduction in pirate activity in the Indian Ocean, but now a new threat is emerging off the coast of Nigeria and its neighbouring countries.

Maritime UK has expressed sincere concern over the steady rise in piracy, and piracy-related activity off the coast of West Africa.
The efforts of the UK Government, the shipping industry, Royal Navy and international armed forces have shown a marked reduction in pirate activity in the Indian Ocean, but now a new threat is emerging off the coast of Nigeria and its neighbouring countries.
The fresh concern comes after a UK-based oil tanker and an Isle of Man flagged vessel were taken by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea within days of each other in August off the coast of Togo.
Maritime UK Chairman Jim Stewart said:“The Royal Navy and the shipping industry have done excellent work in counter-piracy operations in the Indian Ocean, and I have before paid tribute to the Prime Minister for the international leadership he has shown.
“But the rise in piracy off Nigeria is a cause for great concern. If we do not tackle this emerging threat from the outset then in the years ahead we could see an explosion in piracy activity similar to what we saw off Somalia in 2007.
“The good news is that we are not starting from scratch. The Royal Navy and their international counterparts have developed outstanding expertise in counter-piracy techniques, and the industry has developed and refined Best Management Practices to help defend ships from potential attacks.
“We know that the Foreign Office and MoD are already working with West African Governments to help build their naval capacity, but progress is simply too slow. The Prime Minister needs to instil a sense of urgency, as he did in February in holding a conference on Somali piracy, amongst international Governments in combating this new threat before it gets out of control.”
Mr Stewart concluded: “Across the Maritime UK coalition, we have worked closely with Government and the Royal Navy to fight back against Somalian piracy, and we stand ready to work with the Government to combat this new threat”.