Rising vessel attacks threaten Nigeria’s sea trade

•29 crewmembers kidnapped in nine months, Navy launches rescue search

RISING cases of pirate attacks on ships around the Nigerian waters have further jeopardised the quest for heightened sea trade in the country.

Already, the continued spate of pirate attacks, which has been condemned by maritime organisations globally, has forced shipping firms to place a war risk insurance premium on all vessels that call at Nigerian ports.

This, according to the Managing Director, Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Hadiza Bala Usman, leads to high cost of cargo importation.

But the situation became more worrisome, when the pirates struck again last Saturday, and kidnapped 11 crewmembers on a vessel - MV Pomerenia Sky.

The attack reportedly occurred some 60km off the coast of Nigeria, on the fairway to the port of Bonny. The vessel was on its way from Luanda, Angola, to Nigerian port of Onne.

The Nigerian Navy, yesterday, said its men have begun an investigation, and search and rescue operation for the kidnapped crew of the container ship. Besides, the latest report by ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC), also yesterday, showed that 41 cases of pirate attacks were recorded on Nigerian waters in the last nine months, while 29 crewmembers were kidnapped.

It stated: “The Gulf of Guinea accounts for 57 of the 156 reported incidents, while most of these incidents have been reported in and around Nigeria (41).”

There has also been a noticeable increase in the number of vessels boarded at the Takoradi anchorage, in Ghana.

Based on the IMB’S report, 37 of the 39 crew kidnappings for ransom globally have occurred in the Gulf of Guinea region, in seven separate incidents.

A total of 29 crewmembers were kidnapped in four separate incidents off Nigeria, including a 12-crew kidnapping from a bulk carrier off Bonny Island, in September.

In other world regions, incidents of piracy and armed robbery are comparatively seldom. No new incidents were reported off the coast of Somalia in the third quarter (Q3) of 2018, while two fishermen were reported kidnapped off Semporna, Malaysia, in September.

Globally, the report said a total of 156 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships were reported in the first nine months of 2018, compared to 121 for the same period in 2017.

Out of these, 107 vessels were boarded, there were 32 attempted attacks, 13 vessels were fired upon, and four others were hijacked, although no vessels were reported as hijacked in Q3 2018. According to IMB’S PRC, this is first time since 1994 that no vessel hijacking was reported in two consecutive quarters.

The Director, IMB, Pottengal Mukundan, said: “While the record low num- ber of hijackings in the second and third quarters of 2018 is of course to be celebrated, incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery remain common. ICC urges governments to leverage the timely data available from the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre to concentrate resources in these hotspots.”

The Executive Secretary, Gulf of Guinea Commission, Florentina Adenike Ukonga, said attacks and other forms of illegality on the Gulf of Guinea continued to pose a threat to proper exploitation of the water resources.

The Director-general, Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) Dr. Dakuku Peterside urged the Gulf of Guinea region to be properly secured to avert illegal activities that may hamper food supply in the African region.

He said that the Gulf of Guinea which is a major shipping route must be properly guarded if the countries of the region are to properly harness the blue economy for economic growth.