#AreteUpdates: Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

At 0100hrs yesterday (11th November) a vessel was boarded south of Brass, with 5 crew reported kidnapped. As yet the vessel name is unconfirmed and details of the attack remain unknown. This is the latest incident to have been confirmed in the Gulf of Guinea noting that since the issuance of the IMB report (end of Q3, Sept 2021) there have been an additional 5 reported piracy incidents that have taken place, including the MSC Lucia which was boarded and where the crew was then rescued/assisted by a Russian Navy vessel which was conducting patrols in the area. You can read about that incident here. On the same day, a second container ship was also believed to have been boarded with unconfirmed reports of the potential kidnapping of 3 crew, along with another incident in Conakry where armed pirates boarded an anchored vessel and stole laptops and computers.

At the beginning of November, a passenger boat was attacked in Bayelsa State; the attackers opened fire forcing the vessel to stop, then boarded and stole passenger’s belongings (read here). This appears to show the increase in attacks that we would usually expect to see in the last quarter of the year, although potentially this has been somewhat delayed this year compared to previous years.

The IMB report raises some interesting points and the huge coverage in local and international media of the efforts being undertaken by both Governments/military in the region as well as international assistance may well be acting as a deterrent for some attackers. However, we must view these in the context that this report only accounts for incidents reported to IMB. In Q3, they show only 5 incidents reported; whereas our intelligence at Arete shows 11 in the same period.

Taking the 11 reports we have witnessed for Q3, 9 were successful (robbery, boarding, attempted boarding) – an 82% success rate.

Reported/non-reported incidents aside, what is very clear is that whilst reported incidents may be down, the level of violence has not reduced in the Gulf of Guinea, with the region accounting for the 2 vessels fired upon and the hijacking and all 51 crew kidnapped globally in the period. These statistics/incidents are what owners, charterers, etc should be most aware of as these are what impact voyages and, more importantly crews.

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