Due to pandemic restrictions, Gard held its 16th annual Charterers and Traders Geneva seminar as a webinar. The topic of global maritime security threats was addressed through role play with panellists representing a shipowner and a charterer. To kick-off, our guest speaker from Risk Intelligence, took us through an overview of the current and emerging security risks for shipping. Introduction In our recent Charterers and Traders webinar, our guest speaker, Henrik Ehlers Kragh COO of Risk Intelligence, discussed cyber threats, war risks and current emerging risks in connection with global ...

The Gulf of Guinea recorded 34 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery in 2021, a sharp drop from 81 in 2020, a global maritime body has said. In its annual piracy report released on Thursday, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) attributed the drop in piracy incidents to increased presence of international naval vessels and cooperation between regional authorities. “The IMB commends the robust actions of the international navies and regional authorities in the Gulf of Guinea which appear to have positively contributed to the drop in reported incidents and ...

Warnings, advisories and piracy incidents in the Indian Ocean Area by the UKMTO in the past week.

Seychelles has long been at the forefront of the fight against piracy in the Western Indian Ocean, and therefore, we are deeply disturbed by the recent attacks on the UAE-flagged vessel in the Red Sea. The Government of Seychelles condemns in the strongest terms the recent pirate attacks on the civilian cargo vessel RWABEE off the coast of Hodeidah. In addition to the grave threats to freedom of maritime navigation and international trade, such blatant acts jeopardise regional security and place the protection of the region’s citizens at risk. In ...

London and Kuala Lumpur, 13 January 2022 – Maritime piracy and armed robbery attacks reached the lowest recorded level since 1994, the annual piracy report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB), published today, reveals. IMB attributes the drop in incidents to vigorous action taken by authorities but has called for continued coordination and vigilance to ensure the long-term protection of seafarers. IMB Director Michael Howlett said: “While the overall reduction in globally reported incidents is welcomed the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre urges coastal states to acknowledge the inherent risk ...

Three suspected pirates who were detained for six weeks on a Danish warship off West Africa’s coast have been released at sea in a small dinghy. The three were captured in November after a fatal exchange of fire in the Gulf of Guinea. The Danish Armed Forces said they had failed to find a country in the region which would take the alleged pirates. So the decision was taken to release the men near Nigerian waters, with enough food and fuel to get to shore. According to Danish authorities, a ...

Warnings, advisories and piracy incidents in the Indian Ocean Area by the UKMTO in the past week.

States in the Gulf of Guinea region must take responsibility and step-up prosecution efforts when pirates are apprehended by international navies, following the release of three suspected pirates held in custody on board Danish frigate Esbern Snare. “The presence of international navies is a very important step in the right direction to keep seafarers safe but establishing a sustainable security situation in the Gulf of Guinea cannot happen without full support of the region. Bringing suspected pirates to justice is best done by regional coastal states,” says Secretary General and ...

The Iran-aligned Houthi movement that controls northern Yemen hijacked a United Arab Emirates-flagged cargo vessel which it said was engaged in “hostile acts” but which the Saudis said was carrying hospital equipment. The ship was heading to the Saudi port of Jizan, just north of Yemen, from the Yemeni Red Sea island of Socotra when it was attacked just before midnight on Sunday, Saudi state news agency SPA reported, quoting coalition spokesman Brigadier General Turki al-Malki. Saudi Arabia is leading a military coalition that has been battling the Houthis for ...

The reported hijacking of a UAE cargo ship off the coast of Yemen by the Iran-backed Houthi militia drew widespread condemnation across the region on Monday. The Saudi-led Arab coalition said the ship was seized shortly before midnight on Sunday near the port city of Hodeidah. Coalition spokesman Brig. Gen. Turki Al-Maliki said the ship, the Rawabi, was on a naval mission from the Yemeni island of Socotra to the Saudi port of Jazan, carrying equipment that had been used for a Saudi field hospital on the island. The Organization ...

The United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations has cautioned ships passing by an area in the Red Sea after it received reports of an attack on a vessel some 23 nautical miles west of Yemen’s Ras Isa marine terminal Jan. 2. The UKMTO posted the note of caution on twitter Jan. 3. Investigations are ongoing regarding the incident, UKMTO said in the tweet, without providing further details. “Vessels are advised to exercise caution when transiting this area,” it said. The US Fifth Fleet, which is based in Bahrain, couldn’t be immediately ...

Warnings, advisories and piracy incidents in the Indian Ocean Area by the UKMTO in the past week.

Stakeholders have lamented the growing attacks on vessels at berth and anchorage a development that is beginning to raise concern for both ship owners and crew. Speaking to Vanguard, a former Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, Temisan Omatseye, has advised security agencies to prioritise intelligence gathering to combat frequent attacks on ships at anchorage. Omatseye said, “Usually, whenever there are attacks on ships at anchorages, most times, those attacks are from criminals in communities around those anchorages. And one of the ways to tackle and ...

The launch of Nigeria’s Deep Blue Project in June 2021 and subsequent declining trend of offshore piracy could potentially lull shipping operators into a false sense of security in the waters off West Africa. It would be disingenuous at best, and dangerous at worst to interpret the decline in piracy volumes in 2021 as indicative of any fundamental or lasting change brought about by any one state or initiative. Claims of radically reduced risks within such a short timeframe and calls for the ending of war risk premiums are premature. ...

Cyprus is calling for increased naval cooperation and permission for onboard security to combat the scourge of maritime piracy, following an increase in attacks in the Gulf of Guinea. Deputy Shipping Minister Vassilis Demetriades said that international initiatives should combat piracy, adding that the phenomenon constitutes a menace for shipping and commercial vessels. Six crew from a Greek-owned containership were abducted on Monday near a similar recent kidnapping incident. The 5,500 teu Tonsberg, run by Technomar Shipping, was en route from Cameroon to Benin, one of the world’s hot spots ...