Gulf of Guinea Pirates: African Anti-Piracy Meeting

Reported as "West, Central Africa leaders meet over piracy" by Africa Review:

West and Central African leaders on Monday started a two-day summit in Yaoundé, Cameroon, on maritime security and combating piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.

The heads of state and government will deliberate on new proposals and a joint action plan to tackle piracy and maritime criminality in the region.
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At the close of the summit, it is expected that the member countries will be provided with “appropriate means” to combat the phenomenon, sources said.
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An estimated 996 pirate attacks have been recorded since 2012 on ocean-going fuel cargo vessels in the region and products transferred to pirate ships, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

The source said oil products from pirated ships are sold on the lucrative black market. The pirates are not primarily focused on seeking ransoms to release ships.

The IMB statement said that West Africa has overtaken Somalia in the reported number of both ships and seafarers attacked.

Getting together is a start to defeating the pirates.

GOG 2012 Attacks reported to the IMB

A flavor of GOG piracy from the ONI World Wide Threat to Shipping Report of 20 June 13 (images nearby are from the IMB Live Piracy Map site):

G. (U)WEST AFRICA
:
1. (U) GUINEA: On 19 June, an anchored general cargo ship was boarded at 09:14 N 013:57 W, approximately 25nm southwest of Conakry. Five pirates, armed with machine guns, boarded a general cargo ship at anchor. They threatened the crew, stole ship's cash, crew personal belongings,then escaped. All crew were reported safe. (IMB)


2. (U) TOGO: On 13 June, the anchored French-flagged chemical tanker ADOUR was hijacked at 05:41 N- 001:18 E, approximately 25 nm south of Lome. An unknown number of pirates boarded and hijacked the ship. 14 of the 15 crew members were released, one crew member was taken hostage, to ensure the pirates safe passage back to Nigeria and to potentially ransom for money. On 17 June, the vessel was released and the captive crew member was rescued unharmed, by local authorities. (TW, LSS, VesselTracker.com)


3. (U) NIGERIA: On 13 June, the Singapore-flagged underway offshore supply vessel MDPL CONTINENTAL ONE was boarded and personnel kidnapped at 04:02 N-008:02 E, approximately 7 nm southwest of the OFON Oil Field. Two fiberglass speed-boats, each with 2 outboards engines, each carrying 14 gunmen in wearing casual t-shirts and no masks, launched an attack. The pirates were armed with AK47’s. After stealing personal items and belongings, four expat crew were kidnapped (Polish (Chief Engineer) and three Indians (Captain, Chief Officer, and Bosun). (TW, OCL, SAA, Fleetmon.com, AP)


4. (U) NIGERIA: On 04 June, the Saint Vincent and Grenadines-flagged underway tug-offshore supply ship BOURBON ARETHUSE was boarded at 04:14 N-007:45 E, at the Usari Field. Pirates boarded the ship while on standby duties. Seeing the pirates, the crew raised the alarm, retreated into the citadel, alerted other vessels, and the shore based office by VHF and waited until the pirates had left. On investigation it was found that ships and crew belongings werestolen. All crew safe. (IMB, IMO, OCL, SAA)


5. (U) NIGERIA: On 04 June, the Vanuatu-flagged underway offshore supply ship C VIKING was attacked in the vicinity of 04:14 N- 007:45 E, at the Usari Field. No further reporting at thistime. (TW, SAA, AP)


6. (U) NIGERIA: On 03 June, the Marshall Islands-flagged underway chemical tanker BLUEGREEN TIGRE was fired upon at 04:42 N–008:1 9 E approximately 2.5 nm north of James Town, in the Calabar River. Ten armed robbers in two speed boats approached and fired upon the chemical tanker underway with pilot on board. Master raised alarm, mustered all crew, and reported the incident to the Nigerian Authorities. The armed robbers aborted the attack and moved away when the Nigerian Marine Police arrived on the scene. All crew are safe, but the ship sustained minor damage due to the firing. (IMB, IMO, OCL)


7. (U) NIGERIA: On 03 June, the Singapore-flagged chemical tanker RHINO was fired upon at 06:16 N–003:20 E, at the Lagos Anchorage. While at anchor, an unknown number of robbers attempted to board the vessel through the hawse pipe, via chain locker, and exchanged gunshots with the Nigerian naval personnel onboard. The general alarm was activated and the crew mustered at the designated muster station. The robbers' boat eventually left after 20 minutes. There was no injury to the crew or items stolen. (IMO , OCL)

8. (U) NIGERIA: On 24 May, the Nigeria-flagged underway chemical tanker MATRIX I was boarded and personnel kidnapped approximately 40 nm off the coast of Bayelsa state. Around seven to eight pirates armed with guns, in a boat, fired at and boarded the tanker underway. They stole ship’s and crew's belongings, kidnapped five crew members and escaped. The kidnapped crew was released safely on 07 June. (OCL, LL, Reuters, AP, IMO, IMB)

West Africa Pirates: Pirated Tanker Located Off Nigeria

UPDATE: Ship reportedly has been released - and its cargo stolen - as reported here:

Pirates released a Greek-operated oil tanker seized off Togo on Tuesday after stealing 3,000 metric tons of fuel, an official at the ship's operator said on Thursday.

Hijacked Greek-run tanker located in Nigerian waters:

A Greek-operated oil tanker seized off Togo was tracked down on Wednesday off the coast of Nigeria under the control of pirates, the ship's operator and Togolese authorities said.
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"The vessel is presently sailing off the coast of Nigeria under the control of pirates who have the intention to steal the cargo," Golden Energy Management said in a statement.

The firm said they were in touch with a French naval ship that was nearby.

My confused initial report of this piracy here.

Gulf of Guinea Pirates: Oil Tanker Attacked Off Togo, 24 Crew Kidnapped, Shots Fired

WaPo report here:

Pirates attacked an oil tanker Tuesday off the coast of Togo, taking control of its bridge and kidnapping 24 sailors before escaping amid an exchange of gunfire with a naval patrol boat, an anti-piracy organization said.

It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was injured in the attack on the Greek-owned oil tanker, which had been anchored about 17 nautical miles (19 miles) away from Lome, Togo’s capital. The pirates took control of the vessel quickly, though an alarm from the ship alerted the Togolese navy, said Noel Choong, an official with the International Maritime Bureau.

Other reports have the ship itself being seized by the pirates. I guess some are first reports and we know all about those, don't we?

Here's a not so much confidence building report, given that a Togolese navy boat was involved in the fray:

The West African state’s army chief of staff Atcha Titikpina told a regional conference on piracy in the capital Lome that Togolese forces were still trying to locate the vessel after learning of the attack.

Ship operator Golden Energy Management, which operates a number of ships through the Manx Ship Registry, confirmed the attack and said it appeared to bear the hallmarks of an operation to steal the 56,000 tonnes of gasoil on board rather than to target the crew.

‘It’s not piracy, it’s robbery,’ a company official told Reuters in Athens. ‘It is carrying gasoil and it’s very possible that the robbers just want the cargo.’

A Togolese security ministry official said the attackers’ vessel fled in the direction of neighbouring Benin after the incident, some 20 nautical miles off the coast of Togo, but had no details on the whereabouts of the tanker.

Or it might be that the situation is confusing -

The UK’s Independent newspaper is reporting that an anti-piracy organisation has said that pirates attacked an oil tanker today off the coast of Togo, taking control of its bridge and kidnapping 24 sailors before escaping amid an exchange of gunfire with a naval patrol boat.

It wasn’t immediately clear if anyone was injured in the attack on the Greek-owned oil tanker, which had been anchored about 17 nautical miles (19 miles) away from Lome, Togo’s capital. The pirates took control of the vessel quickly, though an alarm from the ship alerted the Togolese navy, said Noel Choong, an official with the International Maritime Bureau.

The navy boat trailed the tanker and sailors exchanged gunfire with the pirates before the tanker escaped, Choong said.

The Independent reports that pirates in west Africa have been more willing to use violence in their robberies, as they target the cargo, not the crew for ransom as is the case off Somalia. Analysts say many of the pirates come from Nigeria, where corrupt law enforcement allows criminality to thrive.

The attack on the Greek oil tanker comes about a week after a similar attack on another tanker in the region, Choong said. In that attack the pirates released the crew after stealing the oil onboard, he said.

‘Judging the past attacks, they’ll take the vessel for several days, ransack it, take the cargo and leave the sailors,’ Choong said.

Suggestions of an organized crime element are made. Hey, don't we call such an outfit that attacks ship "pirates?"

UPDATE: Okay, the ship was grabbed and the crew was taken along with it. The confusion seems to have been mostly mine.

Gulf of Guinea Pirates: Gasoline Tanker Hijacked Off Togo

AFP report Tanker with valuable cargo 'hijacked' off Togo:

A Singapore-managed product tanker with valuable gasoline cargo has gone missing and is suspected to have been hijacked by pirates while at anchor off Lome, Togo, a maritime watchdog said Tuesday. Potengal Mukundan, director of the London-based International Maritime Bureau (IMB), told AFP international warships and navies from neighbouring countries have been alerted and are searching for the ship, which has 24 crew members and was reported missing by the operators Tuesday.
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"Here we have criminal gangs whose main purpose is to steal multi-million cargo which is gasoline as it has a ready market. It is very easy to dispose of it. There has been an underground trade in the Gulf of Guinea for decades."

Mukundan said so far in 2012 there have been 19 attacks off the Gulf of Guinea on the west coast of Africa, with two vessels hijacked. Forty-two crew have been taken hostage, two crew members killed and two kidnapped by pirates.

For those of you have forgotten, Togo is in the oval between Benin and Ghana, near Nigeria.