U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report, 24 April to 22 May 2024

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West African Pirates and Kidnappers Still Active, But Enforcement is Catching Up

Report from Africa Times on 8 Feb 2016, "Nigerian Navy thwart hijack" reminds us that, though
there has been a significant decrease in piracy off East Africa, there is still stuff happening off West Africa:

The Nigerian Navy has thwarted an effort by suspected pirates to hijack and capture 25 foreign nationals who were on board a Maersk merchant ship which was carrying cargo to Port Onne, Nigeria. The crew were made up of mixed nationalities eight South Africans, eight Philippines, five Indians, two Thais and two Britons.

The Executive Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Olusegun Soyemi, told journalists on Sunday said that the vessel has docked safely and those on board were uninjured, reported Premium Times.

Soyemi told journalists that at eight in the morning on January 5, the ship, Safmarine Kuramo, was attacked by pirates.

“We got may-day distress call that the ship was boarded by unconfirmed number of sea pirates after entering the nation’s territorial waters,” Soyemi said.

“We immediately dispatched a warship (NNS Centenary) and attack gunboats led by Navy Capt. Chiedozie Okehie of the Eastern Naval Command to rescue the situation.

“The sea pirates apparently on sighting advancing naval troops fled the scene for fear of being arrested by our operatives.
***

Before this latest event, there was this 3 Feb 2016 report "Nigerian separatists hijack ship, demand release of leader":

Nigerian separatists have hijacked a merchant ship and threatened to blow it up with its foreign crew if authorities do not release a detained leader agitating for a breakaway state of Biafra, military officers said Tuesday.

Maj. Gen. Rabe Abubakar, the Defense Ministry spokesman, confirmed the hijacking occurred on Friday and called it “an act of sabotage.” He did not tell reporters the name of the ship.

Abubakar spoke on Monday. Other officers on Tuesday told The Associated Press that the navy is in pursuit of the captured vessel. The officers, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the press, said the hijackers have given the government 31 days to free Kanu or say they will blow up the ship along with its crew.

Maritime industry reports indicated the vessel was an oil tanker seized about 100 miles (160 kilometers) off Nigeria’s Bakassi Peninsula, along Nigeria’s southeastern Atlantic Ocean coastline, near the border with Cameroon.

“The group boarded the tanker from two fast boats and took control over the vessel and locked the crew in the mess room” before heading for the Niger Delta, the Bulgarian-based Maritime News reported.

and

In an apparently unrelated development, pirates seized the Greek-owned chemical tanker MV Leon Dias off Nigeria’s coast, according to an official of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency who insisted on anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to reporters. He said it was hijacked on Friday, other reports said Sunday, and diverted to an oil terminal off Cotonou, capital of neighboring Benin. Maritime News said the chief officer was seriously injured and is being held hostage with four other seamen.

This latter hijack reported 5 Feb 2016 in Benin Navy guarding Greek tanker, hostages held in Nigeria:

The navy of Benin is guarding an oil tanker hijacked by militants who are holding five crew members hostage in Nigeria, Nigeria’s navy and a shipping security expert said Wednesday.

The Liberian-flagged, Greek-owned MT Leon Dias is anchored off Cotonou, Benin’s commercial capital, Nigerian navy spokesman Commodore Kabir Aliyu told The Associated Press. He gave no details about the crew and hijackers.

The hijackers disembarked from the vessel on Sunday and took five hostages with them — the captain, chief engineer, third engineer, the electrician and a fitter, said Dirk Steffen, maritime security director of Denmark-based Risk Intelligence. The ship then sailed to Cotonou, he told the AP.

A "faked" pirate attack off Angola? Or perhaps not . . .

So, a few days ago, there was a report of a tanker going missing off Angola - see here:

The Angolan navy and air force is hunting suspected pirates after an oil tanker went missing in its waters.

Navy Captain Augusto Alfredo told the BBC that an unknown vessel had been seen near the Greek-owned 75,000 tonne MT Kerala as it lay off Luanda's port.

But he said he could not confirm it was a pirate attack, which would be the first in the country's waters.

and here:

A fuel tanker is suspected to have been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Angola, the ship's owners said on Wednesday, in what would be the most southerly attack to date by pirates off West Africa.
***
The 75,000 deadweight tonne Liberian-flagged fuel tanker MT Kerala lost contact with its Greece-based owner Dynacom on January 18. The ship was last seen around seven nautical miles from the Angolan capital Luanda, according to a security source.

"It is suspected that pirates have taken control of the vessel," Dynacom said in a statement, adding it had no confirmation.

If true, it would be hundreds of miles (kms) further down the coast than the previously most southerly reported attack, when pirates hijacked a tanker off Gabon last year. They were suspected of siphoning oil from the vessel.

One security source said the MT Kerala was loaded with gasoil.

Well, now. Comes the Angolan Navy and denies the "piracy" as set out in this Reuters report, "Angola navy says missing tanker located, crew faked pirate attack":

Angola's navy said on Sunday the crew of an oil tanker that vanished off its coast on January 18 had turned off communications to fake an attack, seeking to calm energy sector fears that the vessel had been hijacked by pirates.

Unconfirmed reports that the tanker had been seized raised concern that piracy off West Africa was spreading south from the Gulf of Guinea, near Africa's biggest oil producer Nigeria, where most hijacking gangs are believed to originate.
***
Captain Augusto Alfredo, spokesman for the Angolan navy, said the missing Liberian-flagged MT Kerala has been located in Nigeria and that reports of a hijacking were false.

"It was all faked, there have been no acts of piracy in Angolan waters," he told Reuters. "What happened on January 18, when we lost contact with the ship, was that the crew disabled the communications on purpose. There was no hijacking."

Alfredo declined to comment on how the navy had established the behaviour of the MT Kerala's crew, saying only that other authorities may provide further details later.

And now from the shipowners, a denial of the denial, :

The Greek owners of an oil tanker that vanished off the Angolan coast on Jan. 18 said on Sunday that pirates had hijacked the vessel and stolen a large quantity of cargo, contradicting the Angolan navy's denial that such an assault took place.

Greece-based Dynacom, owners of the 75,000 deadweight tonne Liberian-flagged tanker MT Kerala, said it had managed to contact crew on the vessel who reported the pirates had left.

"Pirates hijacked the vessel offshore Angola and stole a large quantity of cargo by ship-to-ship transfer. The pirates have now disembarked," the company said in a statement.

It did not provide any further details on the attack or the ship's current location but added that all crew were safe.

Dynacom's version of the events contradicted an account from the Angolan navy, which alleged the crew had turned off the ship's communications to fake a pirate attack.

Just to add to the fun, let's look at the definition of piracy. The following definition of piracy is contained in article 101 of the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS):

“Piracy consists of any of the following acts:

(a) any illegal acts of violence or detention, or any act of depredation, committed for private ends by the crew or the passengers of a private ship or a private aircraft, and directed:
(i) on the high seas, against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property on board such ship
or aircraft;
(ii) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in a place outside the jurisdiction of any State;
(b) any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship or of an aircraft with knowledge of facts making it a pirate ship or aircraft;
(c) any act inciting or of intentionally facilitating an act described in sub-paragraph (a) or (b).”

Sooooo .... a crew that hijacks its own ship commits an act of piracy, if the hijacking took place on the high seas. If it took place, say, in Agolan waters - well, perhaps it is grand theft or something. And if the ship then was moved to Nigerian waters? Well, there will be some fun sorting all of this out.

As with many odd sea-related events, the question of most concern is where the insurance, if any, comes into play.

Hat tip to Bryan.

West Africa Pirates: Attack on Container Ship

Arrow points to area of attack

The headline reads, "Container Ship Pirated Off the Coast of Guinea" which implies a Somali-style ship grab. In reality, however, it was a more typical sea robbery event in which the pirates board, threaten, rob and leave the ship with their loot while the crew carries on.

MV Olivia ShipSpotting.com

© Dragec

From the article:

. . . The safer waters of the Gulf of Guinea however have seen an increased threat and this week a pirate raid was made on the German owned container ship Olivia at around 04:00 hours on the 15th July.

Guinea

At the request of the Handy Shipping Guide the owners, Bremen based Herm. Dauelsberg, issued a statement saying the vessel was boarded by a group of armed pirates some 20 nautical miles off Conakry who proceeded to rob the crew of valuables. Herm. Dauelsberg confirms that all seafarers on board Olivia are safe and accounted for and that there were no injuries to the crew. Following the attack, the crew has resumed command of the vessel which has now proceeded on her voyage to North Africa.

The Olivia is a 20,000+ dwt box carrier flagged in Liberia and built in 1995. The fact that the pirates did not take control of the vessel typifies the type of attack most often seen in this particular region as compared to East Africa and, although serious and extremely frightening for the crew, compares well with the savagery of the usual Somali piracy incidents.

West African Piracy: Death in the Gulf of Guinea

Arrow points to vicinity of attack

Five killed in Gulf of Guinea attack :

A maritime security alert has been issued after five people were killed in a speedboat attack near an oil rig in the Gulf of Guinea.

Suspected pirates attacked a craft belonging to Cameroonian security forces killing the pilot, a mechanic and three soldiers from the Rapid Intervention Battalion. Cameroon deployed the Rapid Intervention Battalion in April to ensure security in the Bakassi peninsula after a series of attacks.

Pirate activity is spreading outwards from the Niger Delta, with the Bakassi peninsula being an area of particular concern.

Attacks in the Gulf of Guinea are often more violent than other piracy hotspots around the world, including off the coast of Somalia so vessel operators are advised to exercise caution.