Piracy May Be Getting Worse, Not Better

 

http://www.maritime-executive.com/article/Piracy-May-Be-Getting-Worse-Not-Better-2013-05-31/

May 31, 2013

Piracy May Be Getting Worse, Not Better

The Gulf of Guinea is fast replacing Somalia as the world's most dangerous
place to sail.


By Tom Thompson

While the frequency of pirate attacks off the Horn of Africa has fallen to
its lowest level since 2009, this is no time to celebrate. Somali pirates
still hold two vessels for ransom with 60 crewmembers as hostages. More
alarming, however, is the increase in the capabilities of pirate groups in
West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, now challenging Somalia as the world's most
dangerous place to sail. Nigeria accounted for 27 attacks last year, and
Togo reported more attacks in 2012 than in the previous two years combined.

It's the dynamics of these attacks that is especially worrisome.

Strategically, the West Africa region of the Gulf of Guinea is the source of
15 percent of U.S. oil imports, which some analysts believe will increase to
25 percent over the next five years. The region has the fastest rate of
discovery of new reserves in the world, and those reserves have become a
magnet drawing oil majors from the U.S., Europe and Asia.

Targeting Cargoes, Not Hostages

As a result, tankers in particular are the prized prey of pirates, who,
frankly, are better described as a powerful transnational mafia.
Sophisticated pirate networks often have vast knowledge of the operations of
the oil industry and access to vital information, including the names of
ships, intended voyage course, value of the cargo, whether or not armed
guards are aboard, and the extent of the insurance cover.

Many attacks are unreported. And any possible hostage value is far exceeded
by the value of the oil to be siphoned off prior to black market "recycling"
back into the global supply system. Goods such as fish, cocoa, and minerals
are also targets.

Because illicit profits are from the sale of oil or other goods rather than
the ransoming of hostages, pirates in the Gulf of Guinea have proven to be
particularly violent. Vessels are frequently sprayed with automatic weapons
fire, and the murder of crewmembers is not uncommon, according to Rick
Nelson at the Center for Strategic and International Studies.

Some ships have resorted to "citadels," safe rooms where the crew can
barricade themselves out of harm's way. But determined criminals have been
known to take plastic explosives onto vessels, drill through bulkheads to
pour in flammable gasoline, or shoot at doors and hatches indiscriminately.
The industry is now divided on whether citadels are a safe haven or a death
trap.

Territorial Issues

Piracy attacks in West Africa do not always occur on the high seas. Vessels
are predominantly attacked in territorial waters. This prevents the easy use
of either private or international military forces, a situation not made
easier by a string of small countries with limited maritime enforcement
capability. Then, too, there have been cases where security officials and
politicians in the region are complicit in the piracy and theft of oil.

Pirate attacks on ships in the Gulf of Guinea are threatening one of the
world's fast-growing strategic hubs. They are likely to intensify unless the
region's weak naval and coast guard defenses are beefed up soon. - MarEx

Tom Thompson is an analyst at the U.S. Maritime Administration (MARAD) and
has traveled extensively in West Africa. His views are not necessarily those
of MARAD or of any U. S. government agency.