With attacks virtually eradicated, many Western governments are questioning the need for keeping up a round-the-clock naval presence along strategic shipping routes off the Horn of Africa. The shipping industry wants the warships to stay and has warned of the dangers of complacency. Navy has no plans to pull out of the nation counterpiracy task force it set up seven years ago, despite the sharp drop in hijackings off the Horn of Africa, said Cmdr.
Bill Urban, spokesman for U. Naval Forces Central Command. There is so much interest in understanding what overcame Somali piracy because high-seas larceny and kidnapping are spiking in other parts of the world, especially West Africa. The Gulf of Guinea, stretching from Senegal to Angola, represents a crucial gateway for oil shipments from Nigeria and Angola, two major oil exporters.
The pirates around Nigeria have started to expand hostage-taking from offshore supply vessels to production storage and general cargo ships. There were 54 piracy incidents reported last year, with 37 crew members kidnapped off the Niger Delta, and 34 kidnappings there in The problem could be even graver; the IMB estimates that only one-third of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea end up being reported.
Shipping companies often would rather avoid having to inform insurers or endure a long investigation that often comes to nothing. The West African spike has prompted calls to employ similar methods, including armed guards, that wiped out piracy off Somalia. But the same playbook may not be applicable. Unlike Somalia, the countries affected have functioning governments and militaries that are not ready to open the door to international naval forces or heavily armed foreign security guards sailing into their waters.
In that case, the only option is for locally sourced armed protection. British shipping companies deploying armed guards off the east coast of Africa, for example, have to operate with licenses issued in London that restrict their use outside the Gulf of Aden region. Security Council, whose resolutions helped pave the way for an international response to the Somali piracy crisis, has urged international action to help Nigeria and other governments in West Africa contain the spreading threat of piracy, which is spooking shipping companies and further depressing coastal economies already hammered by cheap oil.
For crews laboring along the African coast, the hijacking epidemic represents a dangerous and growing reality. Hostages seized by the pirates are usually held on small islands in the Niger Delta and often beaten, subjected to mock executions, denied medical treatment, and fed limited rations, according to a report from Oceans Beyond Piracy.
The Polish skipper of MV Szafir , a Cyprus-flagged cargo ship, recounted an attack on his vessel last November that left him and his crew at the mercy of pirates, who kidnapped him and four others for ransom. Krzystof Kozlowski. Similarly, Thomas Waldhauser, the commander of U. Gerry Northwood, chief operating officer at MAST, the maritime risk management consultancy, blamed the rise in attacks on the decreased naval presence in the region.
While much attention is paid to Somalia, attacks in West Africa are also increasing. There were 95 reported attacks in the region in , up from 54 in , with two-thirds of attacks taking place near Nigeria. Skip to Main Content Skip to Search. News Corp is a global, diversified media and information services company focused on creating and distributing authoritative and engaging content and other products and services.
Dow Jones. To Read the Full Story. In short, piracy thrives where harmful fishing practices prevail. Our research shows that anti-piracy actions matter but are insufficient in curbing piracy. The number of pirate attacks drops by 10 percent for each naval base located in a maritime cell. Naval patrols have been remarkably effective in reducing piracy near the Gulf of Aden; their absence in the Gulf of Guinea is considered one reason why pirate attacks have persisted there.
Somali piracy likely succeeded in temporarily driving foreign fishing fleets out of Somali waters, thus allowing fish stocks that were under stress to recover.
But if these stocks recover without protections against illegal and destructive fishing practices, we can expect piracy to return. Indeed, since piracy has picked up off the coast of Somalia. It has become clear that IUU fishing not only endangers food security and damages vulnerable ecosystems, but its fleets are linked to: human trafficking , chattel slavery , drug smuggling , and terrorism. In regions where threats to small-scale fisheries and their dependents persist, piracy thrives in an ecosystem of organized criminal activity.
Future Development. The Future Development blog informs and stimulates debate on key development issues. This blog was first launched in September by the World Bank and the Brookings Institution in an effort to hold governments more accountable to poor people and offer solutions to the most prominent development challenges.
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