Latest IMB Report: waters around the Nigerian coast remain a hotspot for piracy
The year 2020 has proved to be a critical year also on the maritime security front, namely in West Africa. Indeed, the Annual IMB ICC Report for 2020 shows a 40% increase in the number of kidnappings reported in the Gulf of Guinea in the first nine months of 2020 compared with the same period in…
Pirates kidnapped five Ghanaians in the Niger Delta
On 16 November, pirates kidnapped five Ghanaians from the cargo ship AM DELTA, 35 nautical miles from the Agbano terminals in the Niger Delta area of Nigeria. According to initial investigations, six or seven pirates boarded the Ghanaian ship 44 nautical miles from South Brass. This is the 9th such incident in November alone. Including…
WeCAPS helps ports of West and Central Africa to face COVID-19 crisis
In these times when the global threat posed by the coronavirus pandemic has triggered dire consequences for whole societies and nations, the maritime industry is playing an essential role in the response. In view of this, it is important to allow maritime trade to continue and that world’s ports remain open. The European Union reacted…
Piracy and armed robbery off the coast of Africa: EU and global impact
The in-depth analysis elaborated by the European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) was divulgated at the occasion of the High-Level Conference on Oceans that took place in Brussels on 19 March 2019. The paper addresses the most pressing challenges in relation to maritime security: piracy and armed robbery at sea. Africa is particularly vulnerable to these…
GoGIN in the news: Improving Maritime Governance and Communication to Fight Insecurity and Threats in the Gulf of Guinea
At the closing ceremony for the first GoGIN In-Crisis Communication Course for English speaking countries at the Regional Maritime University (RMU), in Accra, the European Union Ambassador to Ghana, Ms. Diana Acconcia stressed how much maritime governance is needed to improve the blue economy as well as coordination of efforts to fight maritime insecurity and…
Increase of piracy activities in the Gulf of Guinea: first attack in 2019 off the coasts of Benin
On 15 December, a merchant vessel was attacked off the city of Brass, located in the southern Nigerian state of Bayelsa. In 2018, Nigeria experienced an increase in piracy attacks, particularly off the Niger Delta, source to offshore oil production. The latest report of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) recorded that of the 57 attacks…