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West Africa lost US $ 2.3 billion to maritime crime from 2015 to 2017
From 2020 to date, Ghana has recorded nine pirate attacks in its territorial waters in the Gulf of Guinea, the Ghana Maritime Authority has said.
Six of the nine incidents took place last year, three of which took place between January and June 2021. These attacks mainly concerned ships carrying bulk oil and its products and ships carrying exotic goods.
Although the threat is growing rapidly in West Africa, the Ghana Maritime Authority (GMA) told the B&FT that these recorded attacks had in fact started from other countries and entered Ghana’s exclusive economic zone. The GMA maintains that it is currently pushing for tougher hacking laws and tougher penalties for those responsible.
In addition to combating piracy in the form of armed robberies, thefts, drug and arms trafficking, and human trafficking in its waters, Ghana is also grappling with illegal, unreported fishing. and unregulated, which costs the country some $ 50 million in losses each year.
As the world’s attention has been diverted to COVID-19, piracy and armed attacks against ship crews in the Gulf of Guinea remain a serious problem, requiring a concerted response from the international community at the highest level.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime said West Africa lost US $ 2.3 billion to maritime crime from 2015 to 2017. Worldwide, 135 members crews were removed from their ships in 2020, with the Gulf of Guinea accounting for over 95% of kidnapped crews. , according to the International Chamber of Commerce.
A record 130 crew members were removed in 22 separate incidents. Since 2019, the Gulf of Guinea has seen an unprecedented increase in the number of multiple crew abductions. In the last quarter of 2019 alone, the Gulf of Guinea recorded 39 crews abducted in two separate incidents.
The incidents in the Gulf of Guinea are particularly dangerous as more than 80 percent of the attackers were armed with firearms, according to the latest figures from the International Maritime Bureau of the International Chamber of Commerce.
Conversely, the International Chamber of Shipping (ICS) is also concerned about the deterioration of the security situation in the Gulf of Guinea where there is a sharp increase in the number of attacks against ship crews, many of which are extremely violent, currently accounting for some 90 percent of maritime abductions worldwide.
The ICS said many of these attacks previously were primarily motivated by the intent to steal cargo. However, he maintained that sailors are now regularly kidnapped in the Gulf of Guinea and taken to Nigeria where they are then held for ransom in the most appalling and terrifying conditions.
Indeed, Nigeria has recorded some 62 cases of piracy from 2020 to today, with incidents expected to increase before the end of the year.
Key actions of the CMG
But the GMA stressed that it is monitoring the situation closely and has put in place mechanisms to deal with such threats, in order to reduce pirate attacks in the country’s territorial waters. Plans are underway to establish additional forward operating bases at Aflao and Ezehule in addition to the existing naval bases at Takoradi and Tema.
“We have improved our Vessel Traffic Management Information System (VTMIS) or our 24-hour surveillance, and built more satellite offices to better monitor ships entering and leaving the country,” the Department of Transportation said. GMA public relations at B&FT.
The authority is also pushing for tougher piracy laws for tighter penalties, establishing more naval bases in coastal communities and has acquired additional fast boats to reach areas of occurrence and step up patrols at sea. , especially at night.
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