Climate change may be contributing to a rise in maritime piracy, according to a new study from criminologists based in Macau and the United States. The researchers looked at 15 years of data on piracy attacks in the South China Sea and along the East African coastline, in places like…
Laureen is the editor of Africa Times
Twenty African nations, along with European partners and the United States, are participating in the Grand African Navy Exercise for Maritime Operations (NEMO) in the Gulf of Guinea. The exercise, led by French forces, is designed to support cooperative security efforts in West African waters. Along with coastal and island…
Nine Nigerian nationals working aboard the Sendje Berge have been abducted by armed attackers, according to vessel operator BW Offshore. The nine were taken about 4:20 a.m. local time on Thursday, said the company in a statement. The incident happened on the Okwori oil field, located offshore of Bonny Island…
There were 121 crew members kidnapped on ships attacked in the Gulf of Guinea in 2019, representing a more than 50 percent increase despite global trends that saw a decline in overall piracy incidents. “This equates to over 90 percent of global kidnappings reported at sea with 64 crew members…
Officials in Saudi Arabia say that Houthi rebels in Yemen are responsible for a piracy incident in the Red Sea on Sunday, one that affected governments are working to resolve through diplomatic channels but say calls attention to the security situation on a strategic global shipping route. A spokesman of…
Five men arrested aboard the El Hiblu 1, following the alleged hijacking of the tanker after it picked up desperate migrants in the Mediterranean Sea this week, have been identified as West Africans. That’s according to the German humanitarian NGO Mission Lifeline Search and Rescue, speaking with the Times of…
Indian authorities say they’re working closely with their West African counterparts to find 22 of their mariners aboard an oil tanker that went missing off the coast of Benin late last week. “We are making all out efforts in coordination with Nigerian and Benin naval authorities to trace the missing…
The Gulf of Guinea remains the world’s hotspot for crew kidnappings, according to a May report on maritime piracy from the commercial crime division of the International Chamber of Commerce. The report, which looks at the global 2017 Q1 data on piracy, found that 63 percent of the cases of mariners…
Drought and famine are contributing to an uptick in piracy off the Horn of Africa, according to remarks made by the American general in command of Africa during a weekend visit to Djibouti. “There have in the last month been four or five, maybe six piracy attacks here in the…
Somali pirate gangs are holding 39 hostages, five of them from Kenya, according to a United Nations Security Council report that highlights the continued role of illegal fishing and its links to piracy risks. The annual update on piracy and security interventions off the coast of Somalia listed the Kenyan hostages…