WEST AFRICA LEADS IN MARITIME PIRACY

The Hollywood movie "Pirates of the Caribbean" was well-received and it won many awards with its depiction of the criminals on the high seas. But in East and West Africa, the incidence of maritime piracy is no Hollywood fiction.

Somalia in the Gulf of Aden has become notorious for its vessel hijacks and ransom payments. News about hijacks off the coast of Somalia makes international news headlines. 

PIRACY NUMBERS
But according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the body that tracks data on the phenomenon, global piracy has reached a 5 year low. Cases off the coast of Somalia reduced in the first half of 2011. It fell from 163 to 69 year-on-year while hijackings also fell from 21 to 13. A confirmation that Somalian piracy has declined by 54% and continues to do so.

However while piracy off Somalia is declining, in the Gulf of Guinea on the West African coast it is rather on the increase.

 In an article titled "Managing the Global Response to Maritime Piracy", the Atlantic Council reports that in the in the first half of the year 2012, 34 attacks were reported in West African waters and 24 of which were successful. This is more than twice the number of attacks compared to the same period in 2011. The IMB's Piracy Reporting Center reports that in 2012 a total of 58 incidents were recorded in West Africa. This included 10 hijackings and 207 persons taken hostage.

The latest statistics released by the IMB shows that 966 sailors were attacked in West Africa in 2012, compared with 851 off the Somali coast. It has thus confirmed for the first time that West Africa now leads in maritime piracy on the continent.

The report, entitled The Human Cost of Maritime Piracy 2012, was released by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), the Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP) project and the Maritime Piracy Humanitarian Response Programme (MPHRP).

James M. Bridger, a Maritime Security Consultant at US-based Drexel Systems Inc., disagrees that piracy in the Gulf of Guinea (GG) is on the rise in absolute terms as been reported. Bridger believes that data set from the Danish consultancy firm Risk Intelligence actually show a reduction in overall pirate attacks in GG. He says what is on the rise is a new trend of attacks on fuel tankers and vessels. 

Bridger believes there is a re-emergence of piracy because Somali pirates started only in 2007 whereas pirate attacks off Nigerian coast started in 2003.

WHY THE GULF OF GUINEA?
The region is home to huge hydrocarbon deposits. Almost 70% of Africa's oil production is concentrated in the region. The GG contains 50.4 billion barrels of proven oil reserves and according to the United States (US) Department of Energy, produces 5 million barrels per day annually. This partly explains why West Africa is one of the hottest regions in Africa for oil production.

This backdrop raises the region's geo-maritime trade importance. A busy trade route filled with fuel tankers and cargo ships.

A second reason for pirate attacks particularly in Nigeria is bad governance, according to Freedom Onuoha, a maritime expert and Research Fellow at the National Defence College in Abuja, Nigeria.

Onuoha notes that despite the GG's endowment of mineral wealth, it fares worst in global indices of human development. Countries in GG are still poor and the most affected are youths who remain unemployed and without skills.  At the same time, a few politicians and business tycoons enrich themselves from the oil wealth. This leads to discontented youths taking up of arms. Indeed many industry watchers believe that Nigerian piracy is seen as "political protests over perceived injustices by the oil industry".    

Poor resourcing of the navy and air force in West African countries mean they lack the personnel and resources to deal with piracy on their high seas.  Proliferation of small arms due to conflicts provides arms to fuel pirate attacks.

WHO ARE BEHIND PIRACY?
Experts agree that most of the pirates are from Nigeria or Nigeria-based. According to Seth Miah of Tema-based Amitlaw Professional Development Centre, "most [of the pirates] are military elites from the days of fighting in the Niger Delta. They have suddenly discovered new territories off the coast of Togo, Benin, Ivory Coast and Ghana, territories which are evidently not prepared for the pirates and still at see on how to combat the menace".

 Onuoha explains that contrary to popular thinking that piracy on the continent emanated from Somalia, it actually began from 2003 in Nigeria's Delta region. It began when groups took up arms to fight and defend their communities from perceived exploitation. It was prevalent until the government literally bought them off with an amnesty in 2009. The dominant group among them the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) led the signing of the amnesty. However a faction of MEND rejected the amnesty. It is believed this break-away faction is responsible for this upsurge in piracy attacks. 

WHAT IS THEIR MODUS OPERANDI?
The mode of operation of GG pirates is different from what pertains in Somalia. In Somalian waters they hijack ships and kidnap sailors for ransom payment. In GG waters the main strategy is to attack oil tankers with refined oils whiles they are anchored at port or about to do so. The pirates then commandeer the hijacked vessel to a waiting ship, siphon off the oil and then release vessel. The stolen illegal oil is then sold on the black market as legal oil, thus finding its way back into the oil industry.

So whereas in East African piracy is for ransom payment, in West Africa is mainly for oil cargo.

The strategy of 'smash and grab' in GG means oil tankers are seized for an average of 10 days compared to 6 months in Somalian waters (during which time negotiations over ransom amount takes place), according to Onuoha.

In October 2012, pirates attacked a Greek oil tanker Orfeas with oil of 32,000 tons and anchored at the Abidjan port. The pirates controlled it via the coastlines of Ghana, Togo and Benin before arriving in Nigerian waters. Orfeas was released after 3 days when about 3,000 tons of gasoil was reportedly stolen from the tanker.  

Another group hijacked the Panamanian-flagged Itri in January 2012 in Ivorian waters, and was able to siphon off the ship's entire oil cargo with a valuation of about US$5 million.

The pirates are successful because they are well organised and resourced.  Confessions from captured pirates revealed that they are backed by a network of powerful Nigerian port officials and oil industry executives. These officials pass on intelligence information to pirates as to which vessel is docking where, the type of fuel cargo on board so that the pirates go after that specific target. After the oil cargo is stolen, its onward storage and distribution are equally coordinated by these corrupt officials in the background.

COST/IMPACT OF PIRACY
The global piracy enterprise is a very huge business. In monetary terms it is very rewarding for the pirates but a big loss to the global economy. According to US-based One Earth Future Foundation, in 2011 pirates made an income of US$160million through ransom and cargo theft while it cost $7billion to the global economy. GG countries lose a combined $2 billion annually to stolen cargo, insurance premium and on security, as quoted by Journalist Scott Baldauf.

Because GG produces 70% of Africa's oil, increasing pirate attacks on oil vessels can affect global oil prices, increasing the price for ordinary citizens.

SOLUTIONS
Despite the growing number of pirate attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea region, the 2012 IMB report indicated that "the area has not received the attention that was brought to Somalia".

The real solution to maritime piracy in the GG is to address the problems on land of poverty, youth unemployment and absent social infrastructure in oil producing regions. The lack of jobs and opportunities for young men from these communities, serves as an incentive for them to be recruited into pirate gangs.

West Africa needs to learn from the Somalia experience where piracy has reduced due to a US-led international anti- initiative. The daily patrol by coordinated international security vessels in Somalian waters has helped in the drop. Presently the US Navy's AFRICOM mission has been engaging in the training of navies of some GG nations and this need to be strengthened.

Ships using routes in GG can also ward of pirates by employing armed security guards on board those ships and also erecting barbed wire on ships to prevent pirates from climbing on-board.

States like Ghana and Togo have acquired naval patrol ships and other surveillance equipment to counter piracy and other illegal marine activities, but a recent development in Togolese waters calls for urgent joint multinational efforts.

The human and economic impact of piracy in West Africa is huge so countries need to work together to combat it.