International collaboration needed to control piracy in Gulf of Guinea

As open-water robberies rise, UN Secretary-General calls for deployment of assessment mission to consider anti-piracy support methods in Benin and Nigeria

By Alexander Hull
 

New York – October 19, 2011 - Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for a “concerted regional and international response” to the growing problem of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, on Wednesday at a Security Council open debate on piracy in East Africa’s main shipping hub.

“The threat is compounded because most Gulf States have limited capacity to ensure safe maritime trade, freedom of navigation, the protection of marine resources and the safety and security of lives and property,” said Mr. Ban.

The Secretary-General commended many Gulf States for launching joint efforts to curtail piracy off their shores.

Benin and Nigeria have teamed up, as have Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Sao Tome and Principe.

The UN has recently deployed naval vessels to support anti-piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea, which “attests to the readiness of the region’s States and their partners to address this threat”, Mr. Ban said.

Even so, progress has been slow in the effort to defeat pirates in the Gulf region, which is now the second most defined piracy problem in Africa after Somalia. Despite international support, anti-piracy efforts are still constrained by insufficient financial and logistics capacities.

According to a letter dated October 17th 2011 from current Security Council President U. Joy Ogwu of Nigeria to the United Nations, piracy in the Gulf is not only occurring with increasing frequency, it is also becoming more violent.

From 2006 to March 2011, the International Maritime Security Task Force recorded 34 attacks in Nigeria alone, and from 2003 to 2008 it documented 293 incidents of piracy and robbery on fishing vessels.

Piracy in the Gulf region differs from piracy in Somalia. In Somalia, pirates make money by taking hostages and demanding ransom, but in the Gulf region, pirates are more likely to board ships directly and rob cargo.

The annual loss to the region’s economy is estimated to be US$ 2 billion from offshore oil, shipping and fishing businesses. For a region slowly rebuilding after decades of civil war, the loss of such a large amount of revenue is “staggering,” according to Ogwu’s letter to the UN.

Future investments in offshore oil drilling in West Africa are at risk, as is the expansion of the region’s shipping industry. Ogwu also notes that Benin is now considered a “high risk” for seafarers by the shipping insurance industry.

“A regional strategy, with targeted international support, that will offer direction for coastal surveillance, patrolling exclusive economic zones and enforcing international treaties and conventions like the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea is urgently needed,” Ogwu said.

“Such a strategy must be underpinned by focused investment and resources, cooperation and coordination of efforts.”

In November, the Secretary-General will deploy an assessment mission to Benin that will explore options for United Nations support.

“As we have learned from our experience in Somalia,” Ban said, “we must approach the issue in a holistic manner, focusing simultaneously on security, the rule of law and development. Responses that fall short of these requirements will only exacerbate the problem.”