According to Alain Schembri, managing director of private maritime security company Gemini Maritime, attacks involving beatings, robbery, kidnap and even death are increasing in the Gulf Of Guinea, yet governments have still not agreed any counter-piracy strategy.
Despite pleas to take further concrete steps designed to eradicate piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, there is still a lack of real action.
As the UN prepares for another security summit later this year the lack of any maritime security strategy is evident.
According to Alain Schembri, managing director of private maritime security company Gemini Maritime, attacks involving beatings, robbery, kidnap and even death are increasing in the Gulf Of Guinea, yet governments have still not agreed any counter-piracy strategy.
Despite pleas to take further concrete steps designed to eradicate piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, there is still a lack of real action.
As the UN prepares for another security summit later this year the lack of any maritime security strategy is evident.
Attacks are still increasing, and with so many contributory factors, such as poverty, unemployment, corruption and free access to weapons there is no sign of a let up.
This all gives cause for concern – but with government failures, what is the answer? Well yet again, private maritime security companies are eager to fill the void. But can they provide an effective piracy deterrent?
It seems the answer is yes and no. Yes they can, but not perhaps in the current political climate. The counter-piracy model used by the majority of PMSCs in the Indian Ocean cannot easily be translated into the Gulf of Guinea. The facts that territorial waters are involved make it a very tough conundrum.
For now we are seeing a patchwork- some Government Security Forces provide the armed deterrent, and on occasion there are unarmed private maritime security advisers working alongside. But this piecemeal approach will not hold, and is not deemed a solution.
Shipowners are increasingly concerned about the GoG threat, and it seems many PMSCs are receiving requests to provide risk management solutions for the area. But with the territorial waters of 10 nations to consider, myriad state organisations, military, civil and governmental, and vicious pirates hellbent on their bounty – the region does not appear to be an easy fix.
Even where there have been successes, this simply pushes the problem further out to sea. At the moment (as happened off Somalia), vessels believe a certain distance off the coast is safe – it is…until the first attack that far out. At the moment some operators believe that 135 miles offshore is “safe”; it is not.
So until the private security solution is harnessed, then the brutal downward spiral may not soon be halted.
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