West African piracy escalates

West Africa becomes the most dangerous waters for seafarers as piracy becomes more violent.

Nigerian Navy captures 6 pirates who hijacked & renamed a Saudi Arabian oil tanker.

Recently, for example, a training manoeuvre off the coast of West Africa turned into a real-life rescue mission. French embassy officials notified Ghanaian and US diplomats of a possible pirate ship loitering off Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The referenced ship was the Dubai-owned MT Maximus, which was leased to a South Korean firm, carrying a cargo of 4,700 tonnes of diesel fuel.

The MT Maximus had been hijacked on February 11th. Navy ships from the US, Ghana, Togo, and Nigeria shadowed the MT Maximus for 800 miles across the Gulf of Guinea until Nigerian Special Forces stormed aboard on February 20th. A firefight broke out and the Nigerian forces killed their first pirate ever during a boarding. Six pirates were captured and 18 seafarers were freed. Several pirates escaped in a skiff, along with two crewmen, who still remain held hostage for ransom.

This anecdote of the MT Maximus illustrates the successes and challenges posed by increased piracy activity in the Gulf of Guinea. The International Maritime Organization (IMO) reports that over 90% of the world’s trade is carried by sea. About 2-3% of all vessels broadcasting AIS globally, transit the Gulf of Guinea region annually, but 20% of all maritime crime occurs in the Gulf of Guinea.

Nigerian Rear Admiral Henry Babalola, recently commented, “International cooperation is the new

mantra for maritime security. We cannot go at it alone.” Admiral Babalola stressed the economic impact of piracy on the world; by pushing up maritime insurance, security, et cetera, all of which is ultimately passed on to the consumers.

While the percentage of International commercial shipping that transits through the Gulf of Guinea region may seem small, the total economic cost incurred by the International community, regional states, and the industry, through combatting or preventing piracy for the year 2015, was estimated at $719.6 million; the shipping industry has borne 61% of this cost.

Nigerian Rear Admiral Henry Babalola

In 2015, the European Union (EU) spent nearly $3.5 million (€3 million) on counter-piracy related activities in the Gulf of Guinea region. These projects included the Gulf of Guinea maritime transport support and the Critical Maritime Route in the Gulf of Guinea Project (CRIMGO). The EU is responsible for funding over 60% of all International counter-piracy efforts in the West African region.

For the first time in half a decade the United Nations Security Council, on 26 April 2016, sitting in New York City, dedicated a session to discussing Gulf of Guinea piracy and associated crimes.

H.E. Paul Menkveld, Deputy Permanent Representative of the Netherlands to the UN, said, “Illegal maritime activities in the Gulf of Guinea are not only a problem of West-African states. They are our problem as well. Because these activities harm regional trade and economic development. Because they hinder the flow of commerce between Europe and West-Africa and thus prosperity at a larger scale.”

In the first quarter of 2016, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) reported 6 successful attacks and 6 unsuccessful attacks by pirates off the coast of Nigeria, Côte d'Ivoire, and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. These latest figures highlight growing violence as 44 seafarers have been kidnapped, as of 27 April 2016. This is compared with 15 seafarers who were kidnapped in all of 2015.

On 3 May 2016, the US-based non-governmental organization, Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), presented their sixth annual State of Maritime Piracy 2015 report in London at the United Kingdom Chamber of Shipping. Lead author, Matthew Walje, explained that the business model for West African pirates shifted in 2015 from theft, robbery, and hijack-for-theft to kidnap-for-ransom.

OBP’s report showed that the cooperative International efforts by the EU, the US, China, Russia, India, and Japan naval task forces of over two dozen vessels has reduced piracy off the coast of Somalia from 151 attacks in 2011 to 17 pirate attacks in 2015. Mr Walje urged caution, saying when the EU Naval Force concludes its task force in 2018, there needs to be a shift to capacity building, economic development within Somalia, and local maritime law enforcement, otherwise the conditions remain ripe for potential future hijackings, kidnappings, and ransom demands.

Southeast Asian piracy has seen spikes over the last 15 years, but regional states have proven capable of supressing piracy. In 2015, there were 199 reported instances of piracy in Southeast Asia, with 67% of those occurring near Malacca or the Straits of Singapore. A major decline occurred in the fourth quarter of 2015, as law enforcement began arresting and prosecuting pirate kingpins.

The International community has arrested and prosecuted hundreds of pirates from the Gulf of Aden and the Western Indian Ocean region, but the process is expensive and complex, not to mention the kingpins onshore continue to operate with near-complete impunity from the law. This scenario is especially true in the Niger Delta Region in West Africa, Mr Walje commented.

Unrest in the Niger Delta Region culminated when militants caused massive disruptions to the continent’s largest producer of crude oil. In 2009, an amnesty deal was reached with militants, which included huge cash payments to fighters. According to Daniel Alabrah, the programme’s spokesman, $1.2 billion (€1 billion) has been paid to some 30,000 militants.

States in the Gulf of Guinea are struggling to keep their seas under control. While lower oil prices have cut the costs of naval patrols and embankment teams in half, it has also meant a shift in the pirate business model from hijack-for-theft to kidnap-for-ransom.

In addition to lower oil prices and increased maritime law enforcement patrols, the 28 March 2015 Nigerian presidential elections were a catalyst for increased uncertainty. Incumbent Goodluck Jonathan, whose support came from the Niger Delta states, lost to General Muhammadu Buhari. Elections have been a powder keg, as the predominantly Muslim north, which is poorer than the southern, mainly Christian, Niger Delta, tends to align with opposing political parties. Boko Haram, a jihadist group, operates in the north, organized pirate gangs base their operations in the Niger Delta region. Nigeria is not only Africa’s most populace nation, but in 2014 it overtook South Africa as the continent’s largest economy.

In a recent interview with American University Professor Stefano Costanzi, an expert in the computational study of complex problems in biomedicine and social sciences, he observed three main trends in Gulf of Guinea piracy thus far in 2016, as compared to 2015.

First, there have been more attacks on vessels, especially in waters off the Niger Delta Region. Local militants are allegedly behind most of these attacks. The amnesty program, which provides income for former militants, is winding down, and is supposed to be completely shutdown by 2017. It is likely more militants in the Niger Delta Region will turn to piracy to replace lost income.

Second, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea shifted from oil theft to a kidnap for ransom model. Oil prices are low and the Nigerian government shutdown several illegal refineries, making oil theft less profitable than kidnapping. As of 10 May 2016, all major attacks on vessels have involved kidnapping.

Third, there have been more unsuccessful attacks. The fact that more attacks are foiled indicates that maritime security in the region is getting better. The Nigerian navy responded promptly to several incidents. Perhaps more importantly, many attempted attacks were foiled by armed guards riding onboard.

UK-based Dryad Maritime’s Head of Operations, Michael Edey, in an interview with World Maritime News, said, “Kidnap is a relatively easy crime with big financial returns. Unlike the hijack of ships for ransom or for their cargoes of valuable fuel, the groups involved do not need to worry about how to offload and sell the cargo, as in the Gulf of Guinea, or maintain control of the ship in a safe area while the ransom negotiations took place, as with Somali pirate hijacks. In short, kidnap is significantly less risky.”

OBP’s research indicates that as many as 70 percent of all kidnapping incidents in the Gulf of Guinea

go unreported.

Margaret Orakwusi, the former president of the Nigerian Trawler Owners Association, said, “It’s just like the sea pirate attacks; most of the attacks are not being reported. Probably out of frustration by the owners of the vessels. You know when you continuously report and nothing is happening and the victims are not helped.”

During 2015, ransoms in the Gulf of Guinea, of up to $400,000 were recorded being paid by ship owners to recover vessel and crew from pirates. While the total amount paid to pirates remained nearly unchanged from $1.68 million in 2014 to $1.6 million in 2015, the level of violence significantly increased, including mock executions. At least 1,225 seafarers were subjected to attacks in 2015 and 23 were killed. By contrast, only one seafarer was murdered in the Gulf of Guinea during 2014.

The rise in kidnappings has been especially alarming for European shippers. Pirates believe they can demand higher ransoms for crew from the West. Currently, seafarers from Poland, the Ukraine, and Russia are being held by West African pirates.

The situation in the Gulf of Guinea will remain uncertain, as the political developments in Nigeria have resulted in former amnesty payees taking to the seas to back-fill lost income. Low global oil prices caused a shift in the criminal model from theft and robbery to kidnap and ransom. Nigeria and regional states have increased maritime security patrols and placed armed guards aboard commercial ships transiting the gulf. These tactics have quelled the situation for now, but the International community, in particular the EU, will need to help develop sustainable alternatives to piracy, increase capacity building, and put political pressure on regional states to prosecute the kingpins, who are ultimately responsible for the increased levels of piracy off the west coast of Africa.