U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 8 November - 6 December 2023

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U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 27 April to 25 May 2022

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Gulf of Guinea Piracy: Nigeria Reaches Out to Japan for Help

Report that Nigeria's leader has asked Japan for assistance in fighting piracy and illegal fishing in the Gulf of Guinea here:

President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday in Yokohama, Japan, sought the support of the Japanese government in combating piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as well as illegal fishing in that region.

The President made the request during a bilateral meeting between the Nigerian delegation and Japanese officials led by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

Might get interesting if Japan helps out fighting the far seas Chinese fishing criminals.

An oil rich country of over 200 million should be willing to spend money on an adequate Coast Guard or Navy to patrol its own waters, vital sea lanes, and to join in regional operations with its neighbors to cut down on local thuggery and the foreign fishing fleets that are troubling western Africa. To be fair, Nigeria has recently added to its fleet Nigerian Navy commissions new vessels
:

The Nigerian Navy has commissioned into service 16 new vessels, including ten small boats and six patrol vessels, which will be used to enhance maritime security and protect the country’s oil and gas assets. It has also revealed that more vessels are on the way.
***
The vessels included the NNS Ekulu and NNS Nguru, two FPB 110

patrol boats delivered earlier this year by France’s Ocea. These 35 metre vessels were ordered in February 2017 and are to be equipped with two 12.7 mm and one 20 mm cannon each. Nigeria has also ordered five FPB 72s from Ocea, with the NNS Gongola and NNS Calabar delivered in January this year, after the NNS Shiroro and NNS Ose arrived in 2017. These four vessels were also commissioned on 3 September.

It is not clear what type of small boats were commissioned but it is likely they are 9.5 metre Guardian fast patrol boats built by Paramount Maritime. In November 2017 the Nigerian Navy accepted four of the type out of an order for 14 – the other ten, which are 8.5 metre long variants, were to be delivered progressively.

The Nigerian Navy has also taken delivery of a number of 8.2 metre long boats built by Nigerian company Epenal, with around 60 been delivered over the last year.

Whatever these additions, it needs more to allow it to be more assertive in protecting it home waters and its EEZ.

According to this, Nigeria's economy is about the same as the U.S. state of Ohio, which has only about 12 million residents. One problem is, of course, a certain level of corruption which diverts public monies into private hands. According to Transparency International, though, Nigeria is only the 144th most corrupt country out of 180 countries, which means it could be worse, I suppose.
It's not like the corruption in resource rich Russia or Venezuela, is it? If you are wondering, Somalia is #1 in corruption (180 out of 180).

Nigeria: How Not to Fight Local Pirates and Sea Kidnappers

When local armed criminals take advantage of rules prohibiting their targets from also being armed, you get reports like this Shipping lines at crossroads over private armed guards

As the world’s navies could not control vast area in the high seas to secure all ships

sailing to various ports, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO)’s Maritime Safety Committee (MSC) in 2011 approved an interim guidance to shipowners, ship operators and shipmasters to use privately contracted armed security personnel on board ships transiting the high risk piracy areas in the Gulf of Guinea and other zones in the Gulf of Aden.
***
The development made ship owners to pay as much as $60,000 to armed security guards to secure and protect vessels and crew.

For instance in Nigeria, shipping lines claimed that they spent over $200 million annually to protect cargoes and their crew by placing armed guards on board merchant vessels because of the menace of armed robbery in the Niger- Delta area.

However, the Federal Government said last week that such practice would no longer be business as usual for liners sailing on Nigerian waters.

Nigerian coasts have already been labeled as the hotbed of piracy and sea robbery.

The Government said that it was illegal and against Nigerian constitution for private armed guards to operate onboard vessels.

Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, in Lagos, said that there were reasons to be worried about armed guards.

He noted that the private armed guards would not perform their anti-piracy duties in a way that does not escalate violence, involve unlawful use of force or cause international incidents.

Good golly. Why not sent out engraved invitations to the bad guys?

Oh, yes, the Nigerian government plans to offer up some sort of "investment" in security boats and the like to protect those they are looking at removing their protection:

The Managing Director of the authority, Hadiza Bala Usman, said at a stakeholders’ meeting in Apapa, Lagos that the management was considering a number of strategies to check the attacks.

The managing director noted such strategies when reinforced, would bring to book those behind the attacks on vessels berthing at the Lagos Port Complex.

Usman noted that more patrol boats would be acquired to patrol waterfronts.

Good luck with that.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 20 March - 19 April 2017

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 20 March - 19 April 2017 by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 9 January - 9 February 2017

Of particular interest are the first three entries in the "Warnings and Advisories" section, Part 2 of the message.

Also worth noting is that the kidnapping of ship crews and others continues off Nigeria.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 9 January - 9 February 201... by lawofsea on Scribd

Nigeria Oil Fields: Corruption Piled on Corruption

The title of the below linked article covers the situation in Nigeria except to the extent it makes it look as if the corruption is solely that of the oil companies. After all, Nigeria is a place where corruption is piled on corruption - and one of the major suppliers of oil to the world.

At any rate, if you wonder about how hard it is to do honest business in some parts of the world, I commend this piece from the London Review of Books by Alexander Briant: "Diary: Oil Industry Corruption" of which this is a small excerpt:

The final meeting I have in Nigeria is with the senior partner of a respected law firm. He is an impressive individual: knowledgeable, realistic, straight-talking. I ask him what our chances of bringing a prosecution would be. ‘To make sure that the police investigated your complaint fairly, you’d have to bribe them.’ We laugh at the absurdity of a system where corruption is necessary in order to get someone to act in good faith. And with that, there’s nowhere else to go.

Nigeria certainly is not alone in this sort of thing, but it might be a leader. (Not at all exclusively directed against foreign entities, for example, fake merchant marine training academies which rip off Nigerians)

You really should read the whole thing.

Hat tip: Sam Ignarski at the Maritime Advocate.

Fighting Pirates and Sea Kidnappers with a Private-Public Deal Off Nigeria

Maritime Executive reports on a Private Maritime Security with Active Duty Personnel off Nigeria:

***
. . .[T]he contractor may provide private patrol vessels, which are then "crewed, flagged and armed by the Nigerian Navy [who] use Nigerian national Rules of Engagement" on for-hire ship escort missions arranged by the PMSCs.

Damen FCS 3307

Diaplous Maritime Services Nigeria says that its security escort vessels have seven to 10 Nigerian Navy servicemembers on board and are armed and equipped to deter emerging threats. The firm uses Damen FCS 3307 patrol boats, the same model recently delivered to Nigeria's Homeland Integrated Offshore Services Limited (HIOSL).

In addition, in cooperation with the Nigerian Navy, Diaplous offers armed embarked maritime security teams of four to eight members. For unarmed options, it can provide security consultants – Hellenic nationals or former Nigerian Navy officers – who are experienced in operating in the Gulf of Guinea security environment. ***

However it happens, more forces on the water are a good idea to fight the bad guys in the Gulf of Guinea.

Hat tip to Claude Berube. , whose books you should buy.

Photo from Damen.

Gulf of Guinea Piracy/Thuggery Continues: Chevron Platform in Niger Delta Attacked

Chevron Platform in Niger Delta Attacked:

Chevron has confirmed that militants have attacked one of its platforms

Map source

off the Escravos Bar, in the Niger Delta region. Chevron Nigeria Limited, operator of a joint venture with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), said that the attack took place just after 11 PM on Wednesday. The “Okan offshore facility in the Western Niger Delta region was breached by unknown persons," said Chevron in a statement to Reuters. "The facility is currently shut-in and we are assessing the situation, and have deployed resources to respond to a resulting spill."
***
Local media reports – which could not immediately be confirmed – said that the facility had been attacked with explosives, but differed widely in assessments of the damage.

A spokesman for the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Chris Ezekobe, told PunchNG that the platform was “partially damaged,” and that it was an oil and gas collection point for the area. He said that the Navy had deployed additional vessel assets to protect nearby installations.

All the more reason to be developing U.S. resources.

Gulf of Guinea Piracy: Product Tanker Hijacked and Cargo Stolen, but Ghana Arrests 8 Pirates

Report from Live Piracy and Armed Robbery Report 2015

Location detail: Around 63nm SW off Bayelsa, Nigeria
Type of Attack: Hijacked
Narrations:
11.01.2015: 0500 LT: Posn: 03:44N – 004:59E, Around 63nm SW of Bayelsa, Nigeria.
Ten pirates armed with AK47 rifles boarded and hijacked a product tanker and took hostage all nine crew. They transferred the fuel oil cargo to another vessel and two pirates departed with that vessel. The Ghanaian navy dispatched a naval vessel to investigate as the vessel moved into its waters. The naval boarding team arrested the remaining eight pirates. During the incident the crew were mistreated by the pirates.

Emphasis added.

GNS Blika

More from Graphic Online Ghana Navy arrest 8 Nigerian pirates, frees seized ship:

The Ghana Navy on Saturday foiled a pirate attack on a Nigerian cargo vessel, MT Mariam and captured all eight bandits.

The pirates were armed but no one, including a nine-member crew aboard MT Mariam, was injured when the Ghana Navy crew aboard GNS BLIKA effected the arrest.

According to the Public Relations Officer of the 1 Garrison of the Ghana Armed Forces, Lt Maxwell Asola, all eight pirates are Nigerians.
***Lt. Maxwell Asola told the Daily Graphic that the arrest took place at about 10:30am and that the owner of the vessel in lodging the complaint, said the pirates told him via telephone that they wanted to use the vessel to carry out an attack and banged the phone.

This prompted the owner of MV Mariam to approach the Ghana Navy for assistance.

Gulf of Guinea Oil "Pirates"

Over the past few months there has been much discussion of the "oil pirates" of the Gulf of Guinea who grab tankers, empty their oil cargoes and release the ships. One of the lingering questions has been what they are doing with the oil they have stolen. One fascinating possibility is reported by Benoît Faucon and Drew Hinshaw in the Wall Street Journal's "Tiny Ghana Oil Platform's Big Output Sparks Scrutiny" (which is behind a subscription block) where they report,

A small oil facility off the coast of Africa appears to be sending lots of crude to Europe, raising questions by Nigerian and U.S. authorities about whether some of it is pilfered Nigerian crude that they say is increasingly making it to global markets.

Ghana's government inaugurated the Saltpond platform back in 1978 to pump oil from an offshore field. In its heyday, the field, located seven miles off the country's coast, produced more than a million barrels a year. That has dwindled to just over 100,000 barrels over the course of 2013, according to Ghana's finance ministry.
But since last August, three tankers picked up more than 470,000 barrels from Saltpond, transporting it to an Italian refinery near the port of Genoa, according to port officials, ship-tracking services and port records.

The article notes that there are some legitimate shipments through the platform, but

The Saltpond platform, meanwhile, has been a destination for at least one vessel connected to Nigerian oil theft, according to ship-tracking services.
***
Two cargoes, unloaded in August 2013 and February 2014, carried about 340,000 barrels altogether, according to Genoa port officials. The third tanker, unloaded on April of this year, carried 132,000 barrels. Together, that's more than four times the platform's 2013 output of around 100,000 barrels, according to the Ghana government figures.

Very interesting.

Oil and money. Two parts of a formula for corruption and crooks.

More on the Saltpond Oil Field and its current operator Saltpond Offshore Producing Company Limited.

Gulf of Guinea Pirates: Use of Private Armed Guards Restricted in Nigerian Waters

With a hat tip to Tanker Master, this report from the Gulf of Guinea - "Nigeria bans armed guards on merchant vessels" as reported by maritime security company Gulf of Aden Group Transits:

The latest security advisory for Nigeria issued by the Baltic and International Maritime Council (BIMCO) effectively renders the use of armed guards commercially placed on merchant vessels illegal and is highly likely to have major repercussions for the ship owner and the charterer should they be caught with un-authorized armed police or marine police on board says leading maritime security company GoAGT.

According to BIMCO there have been a number of ‘blue on blue’ incidents in the last six months and the industry as a whole is concerned about the safety of crew transiting the region. The warning comes exactly a month after a merchant vessel was boarded near Port Harcourt, which had its cargo stolen whilst the crew were held hostage, despite a Nigerian Naval vessel being in the vicinity.

Nick Davis, CEO of GoAGT, said: "BIMCO have taken a strong, proactive stance on this issue. The incident a month ago was entirely preventable with the use of an unarmed advisor and a good radar lookout. The crew were very lucky not to have suffered injury, had they been able to react quicker and retreated to the citadel the situation would have diffused quickly. The primary concern should be the safety of the personnel, theft in the Gulf of Guinea is unfortunately something ship owners and managers have to deal with, with an advisor on board vessels can avoid a hostage situation during a boarding."

He went on to say: "Merchant vessels approaching Nigeria from within the Gulf of Guinea must understand that the Nigerian Navy are the only authorized body to offer protection via escort vessels only, and not with armed guards on client vessels. The option for Joint Task Force or Police protection is only available within the riverine deltas and not on the high seas. There is a clear and present danger to the safety of the crew with the only effective solution being to employ an advisor who can safely get the crew to the citadel, which must be well-equipped with communications equipment.

"Currently the use of armed guards in the region falls into a legal grey area. Ship owners and managers being offered so-called 'authorised' armed protection within the Gulf of Guinea by Private Maritime Security Companies are well advised to seek advice from BIMCO, their flag state and the local Nigerian embassy or consulate for the latest advice and protocol prior to parting with money for a service that could have severe operational interruption to normal trading."

Nick Davis said: "There is no satisfactory way for managers and owners to perform due diligence on locally sourced guards. It has been reported in the past that incidents of product theft or kidnap have been targeted against vessels carrying guards. Due to the high risk of operating in this area, ship owners and managers must do all that is in their power to ensure the crew remain safe with thorough training, enhanced watch keeping and a well prepared plan of action in case of an incident."

Sure, Mr. Davis is looking for work for his company's advisers, but he makes excellent points about the "grayness" of the situation and the need for great care in planning port calls in Nigerian waters.

An alternative solution to the ban, is some sort of "non-corrupt" licensing program for local armed guards that might reduce the risk of the identified problems. On the other hand, we are talking Nigeria here.

Be very, very cautious. These are not issues of international waters but of Nigerian law.

I assume more ships will be loitering off the coast out beyond Nigerian territorial waters (and thus beyond the reach of Nigerian law) and making a dash for port when necessary. Armed guard teams in "barracks" vessels who can board and guard ships at sea and then be dropped off before the run in may be the ticket.

Gulf of Guinea Pirates: A Boko Haram Connection?

A CNN investigative report suggests there is in Kidnapped captain told ransoms may go to Boko Haram:

Yan St-Pierre, CEO of Modern Security Consulting Group, said his contacts believe Boko Haram, once confined strictly to the northern parts of Nigeria, is benefiting from the increase in piracy along the west coast of Africa. But the group is perhaps not directly carrying out the kidnappings itself.

"So when people are asking, is there a link between Boko Haram and piracy in Nigeria, it's not the one they usually expect it to be,'' said St-Pierre, whose firm was not involved in the Thomas case. "It's one that is not necessarily logistical and operational. It's one that is more subtle. Essentially they will probably provide personnel every now and then, but it's not a fixed structure. So we are talking more (about) providing means to wash the money, to clean it. To make sure the smuggling routes, personnel, sex slaves, drugs, weapons above all else, these pirates need weapons.

"So if Boko Haram provided the weapons in advance for example and said, 'Well we will get a cut of the ransom,' which is standard policy within these groups within the region in general, this would make absolute sense to say, well the ransom money that was paid for the captain ended up at the very least partially into Boko Haram's hands, quite probably as a payment for services delivered."

"Subtle" connections . . .

Roundup of Piracy, Sea Robbers, Kidnappers and Hostage Takers- 22 May 14

Be careful out there

From the good folks at the U.S. Office of Naval Intelligence (ONI)and their World Wide Threats to Shipping report for 22 May 14, a reminder that there is a threat to yachts, no matter where they are:

1. (U) DOMINICA: On 3 May, two men boarded a 43 foot sailing yacht moored south of Roseau and assaulted the owner and passenger onboard. One of the robbers attacked the boat owner while the other attempted to assault the passenger, who used mace on her attacker. At that point, the robbers fled the boat. The crew of the yacht untied from the mooring point in the harbor and departed the area after attempting to contact local authorities, who did not respond. (www.noonsite.com)
****
2. (U) PHILIPPINES: Two German citizens living in the Philippines were reportedly kidnapped in late April from their sailing yacht CATHERINE near Palawan Island while on an island-hopping trip, according to police and press reports. They are reportedly being held by members of the Abu Sayyaf Group, along with two other Europeans taken by the group in 2012. (www.noonsite.com, and www.abs-cbnnews.com)

More trouble in and off Nigeria:

1. (U) NIGERIA: On 13 May, two robbers boarded an anchored tanker near position 04:45N – 006:59E, Port Harcourt Anchorage. The robbers took two crewmembers hostage and threatened them with knives. The robbers released the crewmembers after stealing mooring ropes. Upon release, the crew raised the alarm and mustered on the bridge. While mustered on the bridge the crew smelled cargo gas and noticed a small craft alongside the vessel near the bow stealing cargo. Nigerian Navy contacted and ships in the vicinity warned on VHF Channel 16. The Navy responded by sending a small speed boat, which circled the vessel and then left. Robbers escaped and all crew safe. (IMB)
2. (U) SIERRA LEONE: On 5 May, two robbers armed with knives boarded

a berthed bulk carrier at position 08:29N - 013:13W, Berth No.2, Freetown Port. The robbers took hostage the duty cadet on rounds. They then stole the aft mooring ropes before releasing the cadet and escaping. On being released the cadet informed the duty officer who raised the alarm. (IMB)
3. (U) NIGERIA: On 4 May, three Dutch citizens and two Nigerian citizens were kidnapped near the settlement of Letugbene, a river community in Bayelsa State. The group was reportedly touring the area to promote work on a local hospital. They reportedly had local guides, but not an armed escort. Up to ten heavily armed bandits were involved in the kidnapping, utilizing several speedboats. The Nigerian citizens were later released, but the Dutch citizens are still being held. (Premium Times of Nigeria)

On the good news front, the NATO Shipping Center's Daily Piracy Update has this map of activity in the area where Somali pirates were once very active:

What with Chinese, U.S., NATO, EU, Japanese and other naval forces out there in the area around Somalia and the number of armed security teams riding merchant ships, the pirates finally may be outnumbered and certainly have been tamped down. Of course, it might be they are afraid of the mighty Iranian counter-piracy force which, according to the perhaps biased FARS News, has dominated the area:

“In the last three years, around 3,000 cargo ships and oil tankers have been escorted by the Navy’s commandos and vessels,” Commander of the Iranian Navy’s Missile Program Admiral Ali Vafadar told FNA.
He also said that pirates' attempts to hijack 147 cargo ships and oil tankers in international waters have been aborted due to the timely action of the Iranian warships deployed in the region.
Vafadar said that the Iranian naval forces have also managed to seize control of a number of pirate boats and vessels, arrest their crews and transferred them to Iran to stand trial for their crimes.
The Iranian Navy has been conducting anti-piracy patrols in the Gulf of Aden since November 2008, when Somali raiders hijacked the Iranian-chartered cargo ship, MV Delight, off the coast of Yemen.
The Iranian navy has been developing its presence in international waters since 2010, regularly launching vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden to protect Iranian ships from Somali pirates operating in the area.

Those remarks were made in December 2013. It is interesting to take a look at Somali pirate activity in recent years. Here is a table from the ONI Piracy Analysis and Warning Weekly for 22 May 2013:

The Iranians seem to be finding a lot more trouble out there than the rest of the world's naval vessels and commercial shipping.

Gulf of Guinea Piracy: US and Turkey Plan Action to Assist in Beating "The World's Most Violent Pirates"

Report from Nigeria's Business Day, "US moves to curb oil theft, piracy in Gulf of Guinea"

As part of its determination to help Nigeria curb the incidence of pirate attacks and sea robbery on Nigerian bound ships, the government of United States of America, is concluding arrangements to actively assist Nigeria and her West African neighbours in line with its bi-national commission agreement with Nigerian government.

Consequent upon this, the US government has also perfected plans to hand over another warship to Nigerian Navy so as to complement the joint efforts of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and Nigerian Navy in the fight against illegalities in the nation’s territorial waterways.

Presenting a welcome address to the visiting Senate and House Committee members on Marine Transport in the Embassy of Nigeria in Washington DC at the weekend, Ade Adefuye, who disclosed that Nigeria is receiving a lot of corporation from America to boost regional and internal security challenges that are confronting the nation’s economy, said that Nigeria would before the end of May, take delivery of another warship from America to complement the NNS thunder that was given to Nigerian Navy in the past.
***
In addition to this, Gyang Pwajok, a member of the delegates, who expressed worries over the rising incidences of illegal oil bunkering as well as oil theft in the Gulf of Guinea, also solicited for the support of American Government in putting an end to the illegal act that has been eating deep into the nation’s economy.

“Nigeria needs international collaboration from countries to put an end to the

2014 GoG Piracy from IMB Live Piracy Map

existing markets for stolen oils. This is because if there is no market for stolen oil, the perpetrators of the ugly acts would have no choice other than to put an end to it. And in doing this, it would create an avenue for Nigerians to effectively enjoy the nation’s natural resources,” the senator added.

From Nigeria's Daily Independent "Turkish Navy Vows to Tackle Piracy on Nigerian Waters":

The Turkish Maritime Task Group has expressed desire to work with the Nigerian Navy personnel to tackle the criminal and unpatriotic activities and operations of pirates in Nigeria.
***
The Turkish Naval commander further disclosed that the objectives of the visit were to support the on-going efforts of these African countries in tackling piracy, contribute to the safety of sea lines of communication, conduct presence operations in oceans around the African continent.

Also, the visit will afford the Turkish Naval personnel the opportunity to contribute ideas and suggestions that could help in tackling piracy, maritime insecurity and other forms of criminalities in Nigeria’s maritime sector.

The Turkish Navy is also to exhibit Turkish national defence products and carry out humanitarian activities around Apapa in Lagos during the period of the visit.

Recently there has been an upsurge in reports of the violent tendency of Gulf of Guinea pirates and sea robbers. Let's look at this by going back ten years to this 2004 article: Piracy report says Nigerian waters the most deadly:

Nigerian waters were the most deadly in the world during the first half of 2004 according to a new piracy report. Analysts blame the proliferation of weapons in the oil-rich Niger Delta region where armed gangs trade stolen crude.

The Malaysia-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said on Monday that half of the 30 deaths recorded in pirate attacks around the world between 1 January and 30 June occurred in Nigerian territorial waters.

In terms of the number of attacks, Nigeria ranked third with 13 attacks, behind Indonesia (50) and the Malacca Straits (20).

"Both the increased number of attacks in this area and the degree of violence being used is of grave concern and we will be putting pressure on the Nigerians to step up anti-piracy measures," IMB director Pottengal Mukundan said in a statement.

Industry watchers, like Gbenga Olumide of oil research firm Rigs Concerns, say Nigeria's growing prominence for piracy can be traced back to oil, the country's economic lifeblood and the large-scale theft of crude oil which is sold to vessels offshore.

"The trade has in turn funded further arms procurement and been behind the spawning of a wide range of criminal activities, including sea piracy," Olumide told IRIN on Tuesday.

Now, to this 2014 report from James Bridger at USNI News, The World’s Most Violent Pirates:

West Africa is home to the world’s most violent pirates—who are now capable of overwhelming armed guards. Last month pirates killed a crewmember during an attack on German-owned oil tanker. Instead of fighting off the pirates, the embarked security team retreated to the ship’s citadel safe room.

For the shipping and insurance worlds, the widespread adoption of armed guards aboard vessels essentially “solved” Somali piracy, as no vessel employing them has been hijacked by pirates. An attempt to transfer this panacea to the pirate-prone waters of West Africa, however, has proved inadequate and ill-suited to local conditions.

On the night of April 29 pirates attacked SP Brussels about 35 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria. Local security forces guarding the vessel were unable to prevent the pirates from boarding and retreated to ship’s citadel along with the crew. The guards did not emerge until the following morning, only to find that the ship’s chief engineer had been killed and another crewmember injured; they failed to reach the citadel.

That incident and others like it highlight three important issues that distinguish West African maritime crime from that in other parts of the world.

First are the distinctive operating environment, in which international naval patrols are absent; the limited response capacity of regional security forces; and the prohibition on the use of foreign armed guards.

Second is the uniquely violent nature of Nigerian pirates and their propensity to engage in shootouts with security forces.

Finally, there are the multiple shortcomings of using local armed guards aboard vessels and the inherent danger the shipping industry faces in being overly reliant on that measure.

Well, as the last article points out, to beat the pirates you need:

1.  To have adequate arms and well trained honest men sufficient to fight back;
2.  A legal and political environment that allows strong counter-pirate action;
3.  A non-corrupt counter-piracy local team in the government.

Sadly, Nigeria, and the GoG region in general, seem to lack these elements.

Further, as Gyang Pwajok stated above, you need to close out the market for stolen oil.

Without major changes, I expect that in another 10 years this blog post will be repeated.

By the way, Nigeria provides about 5% of US oil imports, Europe took 44% of Nigeria's oil exports, and is Turkey's fifth largest trade partner in Africa including natural gas and petroleum products. The impact on the people of Nigeria, according to the U.S. EIA:

Nigeria's oil and natural gas resources are the mainstay of the country's economy. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) estimates that oil and natural gas export revenue accounted for 96% of total export revenue in 2012. For 2013, Nigeria's budget is framed on a reference oil price of $79 per barrel, providing a wide safety margin in case of price volatility. Savings generated when oil revenues exceed budgeted revenues are placed into the Excess Crude Account (ECA), which can then be drawn down in years when oil revenues are below budget, according to the IMF.

According to this site, Nigeria ranks as the 33rd most corrupt country in the world (144/177 with #1 being least corrupt Denmark).

The other 32 must be real gems.

Gulf of Guinea Pirates: Flag State Liberia says ‘Kerala’ hijacked

For a couple of weeks, the saga of the gas oil tanker Kerala has been drifting along. From the early reports hijacking, there have been allegations by the Angolan Navy that the hijacking was faked by the crew.
of a

Now, Tanker Operator has a follow-on report, "Tanker Operator Liberia says ‘Kerala’ hijacked":

Liberia has entered into the controversy surrounding the alleged hijacking of Dynacom’s LR1 ‘Kerala’ off Angola on 18th January, 2014.

The flag state said that although the investigation is still ongoing, the evidence gathered thus far by an INTERPOL-led incident response team has allowed the Liberian Registry to conclude that the vessel was hijacked by pirates.
***
During the incident, the registry said that the pirates disabled the vessel’s AIS and other communication equipment so that the vessel could not be tracked from shore or satellite. The pirates also painted over the identifying features of the vessel, including funnel, name and IMO number and undertook three separate ship-to-ship transfers unloading about 12,271.5 tonnes of oil in total.
***
On arrival at Tema, all crew members received immediate medical treatment. During the hijacking, one crew member was stabbed by the pirates and others were beaten.

Liberia, of course, is not the "operator" of the vessel but rather the nation which provides the flag of convenience for ships. The operator of the vessel is Dynacom, which asserts it was a hijacking all along. Angola might just have an interest in claiming that its waters are safe which might have clouded their initial reaction.

A noted in prior post, this will be an interesting legal mess to sort out. There are lots of players:

Liberia will continue working with the authorities in Ghana, Nigeria and Angola and elsewhere in the region in order to bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime, the registry stressed.

Good luck with that.

You might note that shutting off the AIS and the painting indicates a modicum of sophistication in the purported hijackers. Three offloads? Wow.

Gulf of Guinea Piracy and Kidnapping: A nice little primer

ABC News provides a nice little primer on Gulf of Guinea piracy and its kidnapping adjunct in "Before U.S. Kidnapping, 'Widespread' Trouble Off Nigeria Prompted Surviving Piracy How-To"

. . . {J}ust last month the International Maritime Organization sent a letter to all its members reiterating the "gravity of the issue of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Gulf of Guinea," where the American ship was when it came under attack, "and the extreme violence exhibited" there. Statistics showed that pirate attacks, while down the world over, have sharply jumped in the Gulf of Guinea this year -- assaults allegedly perpetrated by criminal gangs who are looking for cargo ships with commodities or seeking hostages to ransom.

The letter discussed kidnappings along with brazen thefts of large ships' cargo, in which vessels are hijacked for several days to facilitate the laborious transfer of cargo onto the pirate's ship.

"That sort of criminal activity takes effective planning and coordination, logistical organization, technical knowhow and material support on a scale that strongly argues for something higher than random chance piracy being in play," said a maritime security source at sea near where the Americans were kidnapped.

And, an interesting video comparing, in part, the Somali piracy problem with the Nigerian/GOG problem:

Gulf of Guinea Pirates: "Pirates kidnap two U.S. sailors off Nigerian coast"

The old kidnap for ransom racket off Nigeria hits the U.S. (not for the first time, by the way, this has been going on for years) as reported in "Pirates kidnap two U.S. sailors off Nigerian coast":

Pirates attacked an oil supply vessel off the Nigerian coast and kidnapped the captain and chief engineer, both U.S. citizens, an American defense official and security sources said on Thursday.
***
The U.S.-flagged, C-Retriever, a 222-foot (67 meter) vessel owned by U.S. marine transport group Edison Chouest Offshore, was attacked early Wednesday, UK-based security firm AKE and two security sources said. The company was not immediately available for comment.

A U.S. defense official said the State Department and FBI were leading the American response to the incident. A second defense official said the U.S. Marine Corps has a small training unit in the region but it was not clear if it would get involved.

For a little history (back to 2006), see Wikipedia's Foreign hostages in Nigeria. I think the racket has been going on longer than that, though.

A report that says 26% of worldwide kidnapping happens in Nigeria can be found here.

What you pay for, you will get more of.

About 75 BC, Julius Caesar was kidnapped by pirates. The rest of the story from Plutarch:

Caesar . . . went down to the sea and sailed to King Nicomedes in Bithynia. With him he tarried a short time, and then, on his voyage back, was captured, near the island Pharmacusa, by pirates, who already at that time controlled the sea with large armaments and countless small vessels.

To begin with, then, when the pirates demanded twenty talents for his ransom, he laughed at them for not knowing who their captive was, and of his own accord agreed to give them fifty. In the next place, after he had sent various followers to various cities to procure the money and was left with one friend and two attendants among Cilicians, most murderous of men, he held them in such disdain that whenever he lay down to sleep he would send and order them to stop talking. For eight and thirty days, as if the men were not his watchers, but his royal body-guard, he shared in their sports and exercises with great unconcern. He also wrote poems and sundry speeches which he read aloud to them, and those who did not admire these he would call to their faces illiterate Barbarians, and often laughingly threatened to hang them all. The pirates were delighted at this, and attributed his boldness of speech to a certain simplicity and boyish mirth. But after his ransom had come from Miletus and he had paid it and was set free, he immediately manned vessels and put to sea from the harbour of Miletus against the robbers. He caught them, too, still lying at anchor off the island, and got most of them into his power. Their money he made his booty, but the men themselves he lodged in the prison at Pergamum, and then went in person to Junius, the governor of Asia, on the ground that it belonged to him, as praetor of the province, to punish the captives. But since the praetor cast longing eyes on their money, which was no small sum, and kept saying that he would consider the case of the captives at his leisure, Caesar left him to his own devices, went to Pergamum, took the robbers out of prison, and crucified them all, just as he had often warned them on the island that he would do, when they thought he was joking.

Rough justice. Old school, you might even say.

This is a criminal business enterprise in a country that is a nearly failed state.

Gulf of Guinea Piracy: Nigeria "Pirates kill policeman in Bayelsa"

Daily Post of Nigeria reports, "Pirates kill policeman in Bayelsa":

The Police Command in Bayelsa has confirmed that pirates killed a Mobile Policeman on waterways in Ikebiri, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.
***
He said the dead policeman was escorting a barge to Koluama with his colleague when the pirates attacked them.

“Two policemen who were on escort duty on a barge from Port Harcourt to Koluama community in Bayelsa were attacked over the weekend by suspected pirates.

“One was shot dead while the other was badly injured. The policemen involved are not from Bayelsa command.

Reuters reports, "Pirate attacks by heavily armed gangs surge off Nigerian coast":

***
Unlike the dangerous waters off Somalia and the Horn of Africa on the east coast of Africa, through which ships now speed with armed guards on board, many vessels have to anchor to do business off West African countries, with little protection.

This makes them a soft target for criminals and jacks up insurance costs.

"Pirates, often heavily armed and violent, are targeting vessels and their crews along the (Nigerian) coast, rivers, anchorages, ports and surrounding waters. In many cases, they ransack the vessels and steal the cargo, usually gas oil," the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reported on Thursday.

Countries on the Gulf of Guinea, including Nigeria, Ghana and Ivory Coast, are major sources of oil and cocoa and increasingly metals for world markets.

Nigeria is getting assistance as reported in "Nigeria, UK, US in Joint Exercise Against Piracy, Crude Oil Theft":

A joint multi-national sea exercise tagged "African Winds" aimed at showing readiness to flush out sea pirates, terrorists and crude oil thieves in the Nigerian waters was held at the Lagos Takwa Bay Beach Friday.
The exercise which was jointly carried out by Spain, UK, US, Netherlands and Nigeria, was in line with the objectives of the African Partnership Station (APS) to stamp out maritime illegalities.
***
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika, while speaking to journalists at the event admitted that the Nigerian Armed Forces approached the war against insurgents on a wrong footing.

Though, he said some achievements had been recorded by the military in the war against insurgents, he added that the Nigerian Armed Forces is re-strategising with a view to tackling all security loopholes in the on-going war against terrorism, piracy, sea robbery and bunkering.
He said: "We went into the operation in the North East without joint deployment training. Nevertheless, I am impressed with level of cooperation so far.

"We have taken concrete measures to improve the level of effectiveness of the operation, such as ground-to-air communication to enable the Nigerian Army and Air force to communicate. This was not there before hand.

"Though, there has been limited success with the operation in the north east, but I hope there will be improvement soon."

Sooner, please.

Gulf of Guinea Pirates: Nigeria Really Does Step Up Efforts

Had a little fun yesterday with a report of Nigerian counter-piracy activity (here), but defenceWeb has a much better look at what Nigeria is up to at "Improved Nigerian maritime surveillance and response cuts crude oil theft and piracy":

Piracy, crude oil theft and other illegal operations in Nigeria’s maritime environment are a major source of revenue leakage and the Nigerian Navy (NN) has put measures in place to ensure this sector of the national economy is properly protected.

In the first seven months of this year it has seized 25 vessels suspected of involvement in crude oil theft and bunkering.

That the Nigerian military has to provide protection to more than 5 700 oil wells, 9 717 km of pipeline, 112 flow stations, 16 gas plants and 126 floating platforms in the country’s maritime environment underscores the need for adequate maritime security a statement said.

The short piece goes on to explain the 3-pronged approach being used by the Nigerian Navy.

Such steps are encouraging. Good on the Nigerians for picking up the challenge.