Navy records drop in piracy in gulf of Nigerian waters

The Nigerian Navy has recorded a notable drop in piracy in the country’s gulf region off the coastal zones.

Commodore Suleman Dahun in a statement on Tuesday on behalf of the Chief of Naval Staff, indicated that the latest report of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB)  showed that piracy in the first nine months of 2021 is the lowest in 17 years in Nigerian waterways. The ere Perot indicated that at the other end of the scale, 51 crew were kidnapped, eight taken hostage, and one killed during the period under review. The latest piracy report from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) released this week, according to Commodore Suleman Dahun, showed that 85 vessels boarded, nine attempted attacks, two vessels shot at and one hijacked.  “The Bureau, while welcoming the decrease, repeated its ongoing warning for seafarers to remain vigilant, particularly, in view of high levels of violence against crew in many areas,” Commodore Dahun said.

The report highlighted that the Gulf of Guinea region recorded 28 incidents of piracy and armed robbery in 2021’s first nine months, compared to 46 for the same period in 2020.

“Notably, Nigeria reported only four, compared to 17 in 2020 and 41 in 2018. “Crew kidnappings in the region dropped with a single crew member kidnapped in quarter three 2021, compared to 31 in five separate incidents during the same quarter in the preceding year,” the report added.  Commodore Suleman Dahun added that all 2021 quarter three incidents were against vessels at port anchorages and the average successful kidnapping location was 100 nautical miles from land. “The overall reduction of piracy and armed robbery incidents in the region bears testament to enhanced maritime security and response coordination measures adopted by regional and national authorities” the IMB statement declared.

The IMB statement made no mention of piracy incidents, kidnapping, violence against crew or hijacking on the east coast of the continent off Somalia, including the horn of Africa. Going further east.

The IMB noted 20 armed robbery incidents in the Singapore Straits, the highest since 202 and four up on the 2019 number. “Attacks are low level and opportunistic in nature, IMB started, warning perpetrators pose a direct threat to seafarers and vessels underway. Commodore Dahun also said that in four incidents, crew were threatened, assaulted, or injured. There was also a “noticeable reduction” from Indonesian waters. Ther six reporters in the first nine months of this year is the lowest in Indonesian water since 1993,” the report indicated.