The shipping industry, along with seafarer groups, has called for an urgent action against the ongoing issue of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
“The high level of piracy and armed robbery attacks in the Gulf of Guinea is not acceptable. Yet it is happening every day and this is not business as usual.
We need to take urgent action now,” Dr. Grahaeme Henderson, Chair of the UK Shipping Defence Advisory Committee and Vice President of Shell Shipping & Maritime, told a symposium on Maritime Security in the Gulf of Guinea.
Concerns raised by the industry were supported by figures from the International Maritime Bureau showing that the number of attacks in the Gulf of Guinea region had doubled in 2018.
There has also been a marked increase towards kidnapping for ransom and armed robbery incidents.
Dr. Dakuku Peterside, the Director General and CEO of the Nigerian Maritime Authority and Safety Agency (NIMASA), explained that new initiatives underway to improve the joint capacity of Nigerian law enforcement and Navy capabilities could make seafarer kidnappings “history” within a matter of months.
“We have no option but to work together, but we cannot have imposed solutions,” Peterside added.