PIRACY: THE WORLD GANGS UP AGAINST NIGERIA

•    MEND Threatens More Attacks On Tankers

Following, attacks on about five ships at different points, there are strong indications that major players in the global maritime industry have rekindled their agitations for punitive actions against Nigeria.
Shipping Position Daily confirmed last week that  after the serial attacks which actually started on February 13 when pirates unleashed terror on two cargo ships in Lagos, killing a captain and a chief engineer, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) had warned ship owners and ship masters   to be very careful at the approach to Nigeria.
Similarly, the highly-influential Lloyd Maritime Association has reiterated its earlier threat to impose higher premium on goods destined for Nigeria. The group had earlier categorized Nigeria as a ‘war risk zone’ following prolific attacks on ship along the Gulf of Guinea.
These developments also coincided with the renewed threat by the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) last Friday that it would
The dreaded group which also offered to facilitate the release of crew members captured earlier in the week from a Dutch vessel; MV Breiz Clipper in Port Harcourt, however confirmed that the both the Captain and the Chief Engineer and one crew were still alive.
The MEND indicated that the kidnappers had offered to hand over the two Russian sailors and one Filipino “who are all in good health” to one of the militant camps in neighbouring Rivers State.
“We are considering this offer as these men were not captured from a vessel related to the Nigerian oil industry”, it said.
But, it threatened more vociferous attacks on tankers with interests in Nigerian oil and warned masters of oil industry vessels against adopting manoeuvres aimed at preventing its fighters from boarding their boats.
“We will launch rockets at the bridge and other parts of the superstructure of such uncooperative vessels, and ensure such vessels are set alight, when we eventually board” the statement stressed.
But, the IMB reiterated its last September warning “that the seas off Benin, Nigeria’s neighbour, were emerging as a new piracy hotspot due to the weak enforcement capabilities of governments in the region.
Our correspondent confirmed on Friday that the Lloyd Maritime Association is billed to meet soon and that the purpose is to review premium on Nigeria-bound cargo; both wet and dry.