IMB warns on West Africa piracy, as Somali attacks wane

The anti-piracy watchdog said that globally the number of cases of piracy reported to its Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur were 138 in the first half this year down from 177 in the same period in 2012.

In the Gulf of Aden and Somalia just eight attacks were reported in the first half of this year, although two vessels were hijacked with 34 seafarers taken hostage.

However, there has been a surge of violent attacks in the Gulf of Guinea with 31 attacks reported with 56 seafarers taken hostage. One seafarer was reported killed and at least five injured.

“There has been a worrying trend in the kidnapping of crew from vessels well outside the territorial limits of coastal states in the Gulf of Guinea,” said Pottengal Mukundan, director of the IMB. “In April 2013, nine crew members were kidnapped from two container vessels, one of which was 170 nm from the coast.”

In similarity to Somali piracy the pirates in the Gulf of Guinea have used mother vessels to conduct raids.

Mukundan expressed concern over the continued under-reporting of attacks. “This prevents meaningful response by the authorities and endangers other vessels sailing into the area unaware of the precise nature of the threat,” he said.

Commenting on the drop in attacks of Somalia Mukudan attributed this to the actions of international naval forces and said that the threat remained. “The navies continue to play a vital role in ensuring this threat is kept under control. The two vessels hijacked were recovered by naval action before the pirates could take them to Somalia. Only the navies can take such remedial action after a hijack. Denying the pirates any success is essential to a sustained solution to this crime.”

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