INSECURITY AT SEA AFFECTS ECONOMIES
VARIOUS recent reports have highlighted security challenges in the Gulf of Guinea.
One was published by the International Maritime Bureau, another by the French Navy’s Mica Centre and another by the US Maritime Administration.
These reports come against a backdrop of pirate attacks against merchant ships in West Africa – particularly in the Gulf of Guinea between Côte d’Ivoire and Gabon.
Last year, kidnappings of seafarers in the Gulf of Guinea reached an unprecedented number. Attacks against merchant ships were recorded off Togo, Benin, Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
The area is often described as “the world’s most dangerous seas”.
Piracy is a threat for shipping companies operating in the region. Industry organisations have pointed out that urgent action is required.
The human cost is significant and hostages aren’t the only victims. Representatives from seafarers’s unions have pointed out that their members are at risk for doing their jobs – and even crews on ships that are merely transiting are on edge.
Based on a thorough analysis of attack patterns and maritime activities in the region, I am convinced it will be impossible for navies and other security agencies to improve maritime security as long as root causes are not addressed.
Many security incidents at sea are an extension of land-based issues.
At the heart of the problem are activities by criminal groups based in the Niger Delta where kidnappings on land have long been a security challenge. Unless the massive security problems in the Delta are resolved, no significant headway will be made at sea.
Beyond headlines, there’s no consensus on figures. Not even the reports mentioned above include the same numbers. That matters because shipping companies make commercial decisions based on official statistics, and budgets for security agencies are allocated depending on the scale of the problem.
For example; the International Maritime Bureau reported that 121 seafarers were taken as hostages during attacks in the Gulf of Guinea last year. This represented more than 90% of global kidnappings at sea recorded by the centre. At the same time, the organisation reported 64 attacks in the Gulf of Guinea last year. This was a decrease of 19% compared with 2018.
The US Maritime Administration reported that there were 129 attacks last year after 145 attacks in 2018, representing an 11% drop.
The French Navy’s Mica centre, on the other hand, reported a 20% increase in attacks against ships across the Gulf of Guinea between 2018 and last year.
Overall, numbers differ due to reporting standards and categorisations aren’t comparable.
Annual statistics are further complicated by increased awareness. Incidents that would not have been reported a few years ago are now included in publicly available data, even though they may be linked to other criminal activities at sea.
During my research, I came across many cases where such activities were linked to incidents broadly described as “pirate attacks”, without a detailed analysis of individual circumstances.
Such differences underline that annual statistics are not necessarily a valuable tool for understanding issues in the Gulf of Guinea. Rather, security agencies have to gain a broad understanding of all maritime security challenges. Attacks at sea are generally conducted by criminal groups based in the Niger Delta. Throughout the region, there is an ample supply of foot soldiers and camps in remote locations where hostages can be held during negotiations, the prerequisites for a lucrative business model.
The West and Central African region has made significant progress in fighting all types of illicit activities at sea. However, human and financial resources are scarce and maritime security is generally regarded as less important than land-based security challenges which directly affect domestic populations.
But insecurity at sea has a significant economic impact.