Report names Gulf of Guinea most dangerous hotspot for pirate attacks in Q1

A recent crime figures released by Dryad’s Maritime, a maritime intelligence agency, has named the Gulf of Guinea as one of the most dangerous piracy hotspots for mariners in the first quarter (Q1) 2015, which is from January to March. Eighteen incidents were confirmed to had been reported in the Gulf of Guinea in Q1 2015, compared with 22 in Q1 2014

According to Dryad’s Maritime, kidnapping of crew for ransom remains the most significant threat to mariners in the region such that in March 2015, eight crew members were taken in three separate incidents off the shores of Rivers and Akwa Ibom states in Nigeria.

“Three mariners have since been released from captivity after being taken from MT Kalamos on 03 March; a crew died by gunfire during the incident while another five crew members were kidnapped in attacks against support vessel MV Maridive 603 and floating storage tanker MT Yoho,” Dryad disclosed.

Despite the fact that Nigeria in Q1 this year was a historical hotbed for such crime, there have been no reported kidnapping off Bayelsa State, but MV Jascon 24 was attacked in late January in this area; a Nigerian naval rating was shot and killed during that incident, which was almost certainly another attempt at taking crew for ransom. The threat of kidnap in both regions of Bayelsa and Akwa Ibom’s offshore waters remains, and further attacks are likely, Dryad said.

Furthermore, the threat to product tankers of hijacking and theft of their cargo remains in the quarter under review. There was a single incident of cargo theft in the Gulf of Guinea this year when maritime criminals took a small product tanker MT Mariam off the coast of Warri on January 11. The Ghanaian navy eventually detained the vessel on January 17, and eight armed pirates were arrested.

In Ghana, the report further stated that a bulk carrier named ‘MV Ocean Splendor’ was fired upon and boarded by eight armed pirates over 150 Nautical Miles South-East of Accra, Ghana, on January 14. Some of the crew members were assaulted as the gang ransacked the ship.

Dryad believes that, given the number of pirates involved and the range at which this incident took place, it is highly probable that the gang’s initial motive was to target product tankers for cargo theft, with the absence of a suitable target leading to an opportunistic attack on Ocean Splendor.

Two weeks after, a large fishing vessel was hijacked 30 Nautical Miles South of Takoradi, Ghana, for just such a purpose. The gang had intended to use the vessel as a mother ship from which to launch attacks against tankers, but having been pursued by maritime security vessels, they left the ship. One of the crew tragically drowned as he made his escape from the gang.

Maritime crime has been reported in the waters of Columbia, Venezuela, Honduras, Brazil and throughout the Caribbean. The present economic decline in Venezuela could lead to a rise in criminal activity around the coastline. Theft from yachts and small pleasure craft, although known to happen regularly, are seldom reported on international databases.

“Dryad has no evidence to suggest that crime in Latin America and the Caribbean will develop in the near future to more frequent attacks on larger vessels. If it did, it would most likely resemble the majority of low-level incidents seen in Southeast Asia, rather than the more serious kidnap or hijack seen in the Gulf of Guinea or Indian Ocean,” the maritime intelligence agency said.

Dryad also reported a reduction from the high number of incidents in Southeast Asia from 75 in Q4 2014 to 56 in Q1 2015. Although the total number of incidents is down by 36 percent when compared with the last quarter of 2014.