Piracy West Africa

 

While piracy attacks off the coast of unstable Somalia have garnered lots of attention in recent years, maritime security experts say it is on Africa’s western coast, in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, where piracy attacks are currently on the rise.

Militants hidden behind bandanas from Nigeria’s Niger Delta oil region fire machine guns into the water from a speeding boat during a recent show of force staged for media. Their usual attacks range from stealing oil to kidnapping offshore oil workers for ransom.

Maritime security experts say these militants, who have been active for years have now inspired other pirates to arm themselves and stage lucrative attacks, up and down the coast of West Africa, off of Cameroon and more recently Equatorial Guinea, Togo and new oil producer Ghana. Off the coast of another targeted country Benin, more than 20 pirate attacks were reported this year, after none in 2010.

Experts say it is very difficult to come up with overall statistics, but that it is clear attacks are extending further along the coast and becoming more and more frequent.

Daniel Whiteneck, from the U.S.-based Center for Naval Analyses, says it is no surprise as pirate enterprises are easy to start and sustain in the Gulf of Guinea. “It is pretty cheap to step out there and say I can engage in quote unquote robbery at sea, smash and grab operations. It does not take a lot of capital investment to become a pirate, and a successful one," he said. Weak local security and a coastline with many easy hideouts contribute to the problem.

 

Source: Oceanus Live

 

3rg Maritime Security

09 January 2012

Tags : |maritime security | |armed anti piracy |3rg Maritime Security piracy Gulf of Guinea |

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