ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) figures show a rise in piracy and armed robbery on the world’s seas in the first nine months of 2020, with a 40% increase in the number of kidnappings reported in the Gulf of Guinea, compared with the same period in 2019. Pirates armed with guns and knives are abducting … More Pirates Are Kidnapping More Seafarers Off West Africa, IMB Reports
Violent attacks against ships and their crews have risen in 2020, with 77 seafarers taken hostage or kidnapped for ransom since January, reveals the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) latest piracy report. The Gulf of Guinea off West Africa is increasingly dangerous for commercial shipping, accounting for just over 90% of maritime kidnappings worldwide. Meanwhile, … More Crew Kidnappings Surge in Seas Off West Africa, IMB Reports
The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) reported that a tanker anchored at Conakry Anchorage, Guinea had been boarded. The unnamed tanker was boarded on 9th June, around 0015 UTC by possibly seven persons armed with guns and knives. The pirates stole ship’s cash and crew belongings before escaping. Five crew members were assaulted during the … More Crew Assaulted During Piracy Attack
Seafarers face continuing threats from pirates and armed robbers on the world’s seas say the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB), reporting 47 attacks in the first three months of 2020, up from 38 in the same period last year. Pirates boarded 37 ships in the first quarter of 2020. The Gulf of Guinea remains the … More Piracy and Armed Robbery a Threat to Ships’ Crews, Warns IMB
On the 27th March 2020, a container ship was fired upon as they were underway, around 97nm South of Bonny Island, Nigeria. A skiff with 10 armed pirates chased and fired upon a container ship underway. The skiff was travelling at some 21 knots. The Master raised the alarm, activated the distress alert, increased speed … More Armed Pirates Attack Ship Underway
Despite overall piracy incidents declining in 2019, there was an alarming increase in crew kidnappings across the Gulf of Guinea, according to the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) annual piracy report. In 2019, IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre received 162 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide, in comparison to 201 … More Unprecedented Number of Crew Kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea Despite a Drop in Overall Global Numbers
According to a report over the weekend in Nigeria’s leading daily newspaper This Day, the Chief of the Nigerian Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, has revealed that Nigeria and other countries in the Gulf of Guinea are currently losing a sum of $2 billion to pirate attacks annually. Speaking at the Annual General … More Gulf of Guinea Countries Losing $2Billion Annually to Pirates
The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre has received 8 separate reports of piracy and robbery attacks on shipping in just 6 days, bringing the total number of reported attacks, in 2019 to 92. Seven of the attacks happened whilst the vessels were either berthed or at anchor. On 25th July, a bulk carrier berthed in Lagos, … More 8 Reported Piracy & Robbery Attacks Over 6 Days
ICC Commercial Crime Services, IMB Piracy reporting Centre, and the Togolese government reported that armed persons boarded and hijacked an anchored chemical tanker and took its crew hostage. The Togo Navy received a call from the Owners that their tanker has been attacked and immediately responded by dispatching patrol boats to investigate. The tanker was … More Togo – 8 Pirates Arrested After Tanker Hijacked
The International Chamber of Commerce International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) report for the first quarter of 2019 reveals fewer incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships than the first three months of 2018. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, a 24-hour, free service offered by the IMB, enables shipmasters to report any incidents of piracy and … More IMB – Maritime Piracy Incidents Down in Q1, 2019 But Kidnapping Risks In Gulf of Guinea Persists
