Wednesday, October 19, 2016
There is apparently a positive outlook in the fight
against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and other hot spots across the globe, as
reports confirmed relative peace being enjoyed in some maritime crime prone
routes including Nigeria.
The Guradian reported recently that the nation's
fight against piracy is yielding positive results. This has been further lent
credence by new data released by the United Kingdom Maritime Intelligence and
Operations Company, Dryad Maritime, which also showed that there has been a
drastic reduction in the number of attacks in the Nigerian territorial waters.
Specifically, the Dryad report indicated that the
Gulf of Guinea, South East Asia and The Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) have
all experienced significant reductions in reported maritime crimes throughout
July, August and September this year.
It stated: "In the Gulf of Guinea and within
Nigeria's Economic Exclusion Zone (EEZ) there has been a decrease in the
frequency of attacks with a total of just four attacks against commercial
shipping at sea off the Niger Delta since early July, this compares to 36 in
the first six months of the year,"
Chief Operating Officer, Dryad Maritime, Ian Millen,
said: "We have cause for some optimism on piracy and maritime crime, with
a generally stable and improving situation in some areas balanced against some
serious cause for concern in others,"
He added that in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean,
Somali piracy remains broadly contained and in Southeast Asia, piracy is at its
lowest level since 2009, with a 65 per cent reduction when compared to this
time last year.
"The bad news, however, is that 81 people have
been kidnapped, seven have been killed and 61 remain in captivity," Millen
said.
Dryad Maritime also reported that beyond piracy and
maritime crime, the maritime domain poses other threats.
Millen said that, from conflict situations ashore in
Libya and Yemen, to the threat of anti-ship missiles in busy shipping lanes, as
evidenced by recent incidents in the southern Red Sea, "seafarers continue
to trade and transit in some dangerous waters," while the continuing
humanitarian crisis of Mediterranean migration puts other pressures on the
shipping industry and its seafarers.
The Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) had recently revealed
that incidences of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and the Horn of Africa, have
been decreasing.
The OBP working group meeting noted that the upturn
in kidnapping for ransom incidents in the Gulf of Guinea in the last quarter of
2015, and the first quarter of 2016 have reduced through a combination of
increased patrols by the Nigerian Navy, increased use of contracted security
and a refocus of attacks away from piracy at sea and more towards inland
infrastructure.
Nigeria is estimated to be losing about $1.5 billion
monthly to piracy, armed robbery at sea, smuggling, and fuel supply fraud as
piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea.
The UN Security Council earlier said: "The
absence of an effective maritime governance system, in particular, hampers
freedom of movement in the region, disrupts trade and economic growth, and
facilitates environmental crimes," she stressed.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN