• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Crew kidnappings in Gulf of Guinea grew by 50% in 2019 amid global drop in piracy – IMB

Gulf of Guinea

Despite decline in the number of piracy incident recorded in 2019, there was an alarming increase in crew kidnappings across the Gulf of Guinea, according to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) annual piracy report.

The report further revealed that the number of crew kidnapped in the Gulf of Guinea increased by more than 50 percent from 78 recorded in 2018 to 121 in 2019.

“This equates to over 90 percent of global kidnappings reported at sea with 64 crew members kidnapped across six separate incidents in the last quarter of 2019 alone. The Gulf of Guinea region accounted for 64 incidents including all four vessel hijackings that occurred in 2019, as well as 10 out of 11 vessels that were reported to have come under fire,” the IMB stated.

According to IMB report, there was decline in number of global piracy incident as about 162 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide was recorded in 2019 as against to 201 reported incidents in 2018.

“The incidents include four hijacked vessels, 11 vessels fired upon, 17 attempted attacks, and 130 vessels boarded, according to the latest IMB figures. While the overall decline in piracy incidents was an encouraging development as vessels remained at risk in several regions, especially the Gulf of Guinea,” IMB report stated.

“We remain concerned that this region has recorded an unprecedented rise in crew kidnaps. These latest statistics confirmed the importance of increased information exchange and coordination between vessels, reporting and response agencies in the Gulf of Guinea Region,” stated Michael Howlett, director of the ICC IMB.

According to him, “Without the necessary reporting structures in place, we will be unable to accurately highlight the high-risk areas for seafarers and address the rise of piracy incidents in these persistently vulnerable waters.”

IMB however urged all shipmasters and owners to report all actual, attempted and suspected piracy and armed robbery incidents to the IMB PRC. “This first step in the response chain is vital to ensuring that adequate resources are allocated by authorities to tackle this crime.”

 

AMAKA ANAGOR-EWUZIE