West African waters remain the world’s most dangerous for piracy, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) revealed in its mid-year piracy report yesterday.
According to the IMB 73% of all kidnappings at sea and 92% of hostage-takings took place in the Gulf of Guinea – off the coasts of Nigeria, Togo, Cameroon, Guinea and Benin.
“Of the 75 seafarers taken hostage on board or kidnapped for ransom worldwide so far this year, 62 were captured in the Gulf of Guinea.”
Armed pirates kidnapped 27 crew members in the first six months of 2019, two more than in the same period in 2018.
Eight of the nine vessels fired upon worldwide were off the coast of Nigeria.
Nonetheless, there are “encouraging signs of improvement”, the IMB noted.
“While recognising that many attacks go unreported, we have recorded 21 incidents around Nigeria so far in 2019, down from 31 in the same period of 2018.”
Continual vigilance and the reporting of suspicious activity remained important, the bureau added.
“Early detection of an approaching suspicious craft is key to prevent boarding and give time to raise the alarm and retreat into a citadel, if needed.”
