最近的一起案件显示，一艘会员船舶在十周内先后两次遭到海盗劫持。在两次挟持中，船舶装载的货物都是石油，案发时该船舶在拉各斯港口外并等候驳船运输。
西非国家出现的海盗活动及武装抢劫与索马里流域出现的同类海盗活动有很大差别。几内亚湾的海盗活动很可能是由于尼日利亚的石油成本上升所致。西非的海盗通常没有耐心，不愿意等待周期较长的赎金谈判，他们更愿意劫持船只，洗劫货物，并抓住机会搜刮船员的个人财物。西非海盗的活动日渐猖獗，这是他们与东非海盗的唯一相似点，如今，他们的身影常常出现在超过100海浬的海面上。
在第一次遇袭时，由于登船的海盗无法找到另一艘船，不能采取船对船转货行动，因此当时没有抢走货物，海盗只是在失望中洗劫了船只及船员的个人财物，然后扬长而去。
然而，由于此艘商船经常出没于该海域，她不幸再次成为劫持目标。这一次，海盗做足了准备工作，他们抢到了大量的柴油，其中，大约3500吨柴油来自货物本身，另外60吨来自轮船的自用柴油，并在随后对轮船和船员的财物进行了洗劫。
由于缺乏对海盗的威慑力量，尼日利亚的海盗活动日益猖獗。尼日利亚的海军一直备受争议，他们正在考虑提供更有效的打击海盗措施。哈科特港的有关部门已在邦尼河的上下游派出了多艘护航舰队，但这些护航舰队只能打击恐怖主义，而非海盗。如果船东希望自己在船上安排武装警卫，则必须签署若干协议，这些协议的签署涉及复杂的官僚机构以及繁杂的手续。
最新的安全报告显示，在距尼日利亚拉各斯港口大约110海浬的海域发生一起针对散货轮的袭击未遂事件，其中有两名船员中弹身亡。几内亚湾的海盗暴力活动正在升级。鉴于此，马绍尔群岛当局特此发出下列指引：
“积极采取适当的打击海盗措施，持续保持高度警惕，全天24小时实施人工和雷达相结合的严格监控措施，并向IMB海盗举报中心报告所有攻击事件和可疑情况（24小时打击海盗热线：+6032031 0014，电子邮件：piracy@icc-ccs.org，电报：MA 34199）。”
保赔协会特此建议在这些水域经营船只的会员保持高度警惕，做好充分准备，根据需要采纳BMP4的建议，留意海盗暴力活动是否已进入较难提供军事援助的邻国水域。
详细信息请参阅附件。
Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea – West Africa
A recent case saw one of our Member vessels hijacked twice within a ten week period. On both occasions the ship was loaded with a cargo of petroleum and was drifting off Lagos waiting her turn to lighter.
Acts of piracy and armed robbery off West African states contrast greatly with piracy of the kind seen in the Somali basin. The pirates’ modus operandi in the Gulf of Guinea is likely motivated by the increasing costs of petroleum in Nigeria. West African pirates, not patient enough for prolonged ransom negotiations, are more eager to hijack a vessel, strip it of its cargo and opportunistically strip the crew of their possessions. The only similarities between the two varieties of African pirates is that like their East African neighbours Nigerian pirates are acting with increased confidence and attacks are now common over 100NM offshore.
In the first attack no cargo was taken since the pirates who boarded were unable to secure a vessel to perform an STS at the time. Frustrated, the pirates then ransacked the ship, stealing crew’s personal effects before leaving.
However, as the vessel is a regular trader to the area, she was targeted again. This time the pirates were better prepared and managed to extract some 3500 tons of gas oil cargo and 60 tons of the ship’s own gas oil before again ransacking the ship and stealing crew effects.
The piracy situation in Nigeria is compounded by a lack of suitable deterrents. The Nigerian navy is hard pressed to carry out existing missions, before considering the provision of effective anti-piracy cover. Protection convoys up and down the Bonny river set up by Port Harcourt authorities have only a mandate to protect against terrorism and not against piracy. Arranging contracts for embarked security guards requires the owner to enter into a difficult and complex bureaucracy.
Latest security reports detail an incident where two crewmen were shot dead in a failed attempt to hijack a bulk carrier some 110NM off Lagos, Nigeria. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea is increasingly violent. Guidance distributed by the Marshall Islands Flag authority advises;
“to actively implement appropriate Best Management Practices for anti-piracy measures, continue to maintain a heightened state of awareness, maintain strict 24 hour anti-piracy visual and radar watches, and report all attacks and suspicious sightings to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (24 hours anti-piracy helpline: +603 2031 0014, Email: piracy@icc-ccs.org, Telex: MA 34199).”
The Club would therefore advise those members who have vessels operating in these waters to exercise the utmost vigilance and preparedness, adapting the advice from BMP4 as necessary, and being mindful that violent piracy is spilling into neighbouring states waters where military assistance is even more remote.
See attached file: Bulletin 812.pdf
