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.

2012 year-in-review: LL.B. to LL.M.

In the year since graduating from the University of Edinburgh much has happened in my life. I have gone from law student to campaign manager to youngest elected city council member of my home town to working for the leading NGO on maritime piracy to once again being a law student. In this time I have met and visited with the president, vice president, GOP challenger, a retired US Supreme Court justice, the highest judges from New Hampshire, Texas, and New York, along with visiting with Colorado's governor, New Hampshire's governor, Texas' governor, the junior US senator from South Dakota, and a former US senator from Pennsylvania, not to mention having lunch with a former governor of New Hampshire and a former US senator from Colorado. Life has also been challenging, I was present when my aunt Clara passed away and not long after that I received the letter saying I had been denied admittance to sit the New York bar. This resulted in me having to step down as trustee and pursue an LL.M. degree, which is one of the new requirements for sitting the bar. I also experienced the economic downturn, but applying to over 50 businesses and hearing no responses. Perseverance and no matter the odds, never give up, have become daily mantras. The following is a year in review:

27 November 2011 - graduated from University of Edinburgh with an LL.B. in Law

December 2011 - launched exploratory committee for a possible bid for the Colorado House of Representatives, Dist 61

January 2012 - began campaign manager for Bruce Hovde's re-election campaign for Delta County Commissioner, Dist 2

February 2012 - began campaign for Orchard City Board of Trustees

3 April 2012 - elected Orchard City's youngest Trustee

April - October 2012 I served on the Orchard City Board of Trustees. 

April 2012 - became campaign manager for Mark Roeber's Delta County Commissioner Campaign, Dist 3

May - August 2012 - maritime piracy legal researcher (intern) with Oceans Beyond Piracy, which is an NGO that provides research on the economic and human costs of piracy at sea, along with engaging stakeholders to find a governance based solution to countering piracy. Working included revising and enhancing counter piracy matrix, editing law reports, following pending criminal and tort cases, and providing information for diplomats, the military, and industry. 

September 2012 - begin LL.M. in Intellectual Property (IP) Law at the University of New Hampshire's School of Law (Franklin Pierce Center for Intellectually Property)

September 2012 - visited Portland, Maine; Kennybunkport, Maine; Boston, Massachusetts; Mount Washington, New Hampshire; the White Mountains of New Hampshire; Newport, Rhode Island

October 2012 - shook hands with President Obama in Portsmouth, NH; visited with Vice President Joe Biden in Concord, NH; talked constitutional law with form US Supreme Court Justice David Souter in Concord, NH; and gave words of encouragement to Mitt Romney in Manchester, NH.

October 2012 - travelled to New York City for the first time since I was 12 years old. Met up with my former Edinburgh flatmate and good friend, Fabio Pucci. We were flatmates for nearly 3 1/4 years. He was in NYC to present a paper at the Rockefeller. We went to the top of both the Rockefeller Center (Top of the Rock) and the Empire State Building. I stayed the first night in Harlem and the second in Times Square. Whilst walking in Central Park, I thought to myself Manhatten Island is crazy, fun, and looking at the buildings might injure my neck ;-) I also went to the cite of the World Trade Center attacks. I was disappointed that there were venders (including the National Commission) selling goods, profiting off of the dead of nearly 3,000. Fabio put things in perspective by saying the towers were about commerce and free enterprise, capitalism, and trade. "If there weren't venders selling goods and making money on the very site where so many died, then the terrorists would have won." 

October 2012 - sat the Multi State Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE), this exam, along with the Bar Exam, is required to be admitted to practice law.

October 2012 - visit Montpelier, Vermont

October 2012 - elected as a "write-in" to the Board of Governors of the New Hampshire Student Bar Association 

November 2012 - hung out with the Supreme Court Chief Justices of New Hampshire, Texas, and New York; in addition to having lunch with former New Hampshire Governor Steve Merrill.

Fisheries and Somali Pirates: ideas for tomorrow

Somali maritime pirates have often said, if it wasn’t for foreign trawlers, invading their fisheries, they would never have turned to piracy. John Vidal, with London’s Guardian newspaper, uses this logic in advocating an international response to suppressing illegal fishing. This is purely ‘pirated spin’, the reality is one successful pirate attack equals nearly a lifetime worth of earning in the Horn of Africa region. To quote Treasure Island, “‘Money!’ cried the squire. ‘Have you heard the story? What were these villains after but money? What do they care for but money? For what would they risk their rascal carcases but money?’”^[1] This said, there are a couple ways piracy might be less lucrative if a robust Somali fishing industry were to be resurrected.

 

Firstly, the Transitional Federal Government (TFG) needs to define their Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) under the United Nations Convention on Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) of 1982. This would provide the legal basis for proceeding to step two. As long as the reward-risk ratio for maritime piracy outweighs that of fishing, there won't be much demand for pirates to become (or go back to) fishing. One successful 'piracy for ransom' (PFR) or 'kidnapping for ransom' (KFR) could provide the equivalent of a lifetime's earnings for the average Somali.

The European Union Naval Force (EU NAVFOR) has been training Ugandan soldiers attached to African Union's Somalia Mission (AMISOM) to be part of a ‘vessel protection detachment’ (VPD) programme aimed at guarding the transport of supplies to Mogadishu for AMISOM and the United Nations World Food Programme (UN WFP). It’s a joint UN Security Council (UN SC) and North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) (S/2011/662, para 52) programme. The programme sounds similar to one of adding private security to commercial vessels, the difference here is that they are AMISOM and WFP vessels which have been chartered by the UN Support Office for the AMISOM (UNSOA) and the WFP. Logistical challenges of moving VPD to and from charter vessels et cetera. Once domestic shipping into Somalia transfers from shield of Combine Maritime Task Force (CMF), NATO and EU NAVFOR in 2014, there needs to be a multi-pronged strategy.

AMISOM might be a good entity to have move from a 'on land' police to transitioning VPD units to a coast guard. As far as fisheries go, the TFG might consider a licensing scheme to sell fishing licences to non-Somali fishing companies. Assuming the licence scheme isn't corrupted, it could generate revenue to help fund the coast guard. The coast guard would be tasked with law and environmental enforcement of the EEZ.

The fear, as with many 3rd World Countries, is corruption. Galmudug Prison is a great example of why Western standards are not always the best ideas - this was a multi-million Euro project built to EU standards and resulted in several hundred convicted pirates being freed and the guards and their families occupying section of the prison as "apartments", since it was so much nicer than anywhere else in the region. Efforts need to have a goal of eventually being self-funding, as the TFG, Somaliland, Puntland and Galmudug should at one point take control of self-governance.

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^[1] Robert Louis Stevenson, Treasure Island 32 (Oxford UP 2008) (1883)