Sea piracy still a problem on West Africa Coast: Mission to Seafarers Africa Head says

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

Sea piracy is still a major challenge in waters off the West African Coast, a regional meeting of Missions to Seafarers currently underway in Mombasa has heard.   Speaking at the Missions to Seafarers Centre, Mombasa, the Missions to Seafarers Africa Director, Rev Cedric Rautenbach said that while the intervention and continued patrol of the Indian Ocean waters around the Somali Coast by an international flotilla of …

New naval base in Andamans boosts military posture in Indian Ocean

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

Expanding the airfield to 10,000 feet would also allow wide-bodied airliners to carry out commercial operations from INS Kohassa, facilitating tourism in the Andamans India’s military presence in the Indian Ocean got a long-delayed boost on Thursday with the commissioning of a full-fledged naval base, Indian Naval Ship (INS) Kohassa, in the North Andaman Island. The base, commissioned by navy …

Military eyes Abu Sayyaf behind twin blasts in Jolo

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

MANILA — (UPDATED) The military on Sunday said it believes that Abu Sayyaf bandits could be behind the fatal explosions at a Catholic Church in Barangay Walled City, Jolo town in Sulu. Col. Gerry Besana, spokesperson of the military’s Western Mindanao Command, said initial probe of the twin blasts points to the Abu Sayyaf’s “Ajang-Ajang” group. Authorities were able to …

Ships on alert following three attacks off Nigeria in 24 hours

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

Three attacks on ships off West Africa have been reported by maritime security specialists Ambrey in the space of just 24 hours. The Liberia-flagged product tanker Levanto was fired at on January 24 while underway at 10.9 knots en route from Lagos to Calabar, Nigeria. The Unibros Shipping Corp-owned vessel deviated course, increased speed and continued on its journey. A …

Improving maritime security in the Asia–Pacific

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

Over recent years, the Asia–Pacific maritime security environment has become increasingly complex. Transnational serious and organised crime in the maritime domain (including illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing; piracy; and trafficking of weapons, drugs and people), terrorism and an increasingly assertive Chinese maritime strategy are generating further complexity. The evolving strategic challenge hasn’t gone unnoticed in Australia, or in its Asia–Pacific …

Pakistan Maritime Security Agency Fires at Indian Fishing Boat, 1 killed

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

New Delhi:  An Indian fishing boat was fired upon and later sunk by Pakistan Maritime Security Agency ( PMSA ) on January 17 at 7 am near Mitha Port in Gujarat. Following the incident, 7 Indian fishermen drowned while 6 were rescued by the Indian coast guard, 1 fisherman is missing and presumed dead. The PMSA vessel had fired at the Indian fishing boat which …

Shipowners call for naval support as hijack risk returns to Gulf of Guinea

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

BIMCO calls on EU, China and US to intervene with counter-piracy operations as hijack and ransom threat returns to plague shipping operations. An estimated 100 attacks a year have taken place over the past three years   Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is “an unacceptable burden to seafarers and shipping companies” says shipping association as efforts to free six …

Legal limits of armed guards on board ships

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

16 January 2019 Author Emeka Akabogu Voyaging in West African waters, particularly the Gulf of Guinea, is considered dangerous and raises the question of whether shipowners are entitled to put armed guards on board their vessels to protect them from attacks by arms-bearing third parties. Considering reported attacks of armed robbers at sea, kidnappings for ransom and other criminal occurrences …

Somaliland seeks recognition by hosting naval bases

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

Self-declared republic sees military presence by world powers as way to affirm its status as independent state By Addis Getachew ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia The self-declared republic of Somaliland has expressed an interest in hosting British and Russian naval bases, which would add to an already active military presence along the coast of the Red Sea – one of the world’s …

Charcoal Smuggling Finances Somali Terrorist Groups

Sea Guardian Maritime Security Updates

BY MAREX 2019-01-16 11:42:34 Terrorists are making over $7 million a year by smuggling charcoal illegally out of Somalia, according to estimates by the Royal Navy. Terrorist organizations like Al-Shabaab in Somalia, where there has been a United Nations Security Council ban on exporting charcoal since 2012, tax and smuggle an estimated 3.5 million bags of charcoal a year, which is …

Somaliland seeks recognition by hosting naval bases

SeaGuardian Maritime Security Updates

By Addis Getachew ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia The self-declared republic of Somaliland has expressed an interest in hosting British and Russian naval bases, which would add to an already active military presence along the coast of the Red Sea – one of the world’s busiest and most strategically important maritime passages. Last weekend, British Defense Secretary Gavin Williamson paid an unannounced …

Violent explosion shakes Yemen’s Aden refinery

SeaGuardian Maritime Security Updates

Violence has escalated in the area in recent weeks. A fire has ripped through a storage tank at the main oil refinery in Al-Buraika city in Yemen’s Aden on Friday evening. The fire erupted in a pipe line and leaked into one of the reservoir tanks in the refinery, the head of the fire brigade which rushed to deal with the blaze …