Resources on the threat of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea

Dr. Dirk Siebels has contributed to the annual CJOS COE (NATO) publication ‘Cutting the bow wave’ with an in-depth article on the security situation in West and Central Africa and how the region could serve as a case study for NATO, providing lessons that can be applied in other areas, which are a more strategic concern to the alliance.

Lessons can be learned from the overall lack of sea control coupled with a diverse set of maritime security challenges in general as well as from the implications of the Covid-19 situation in particular.

Dr. Dirk Siebels, sub-Saharan Africa specialist and main speaker on our popular Gulf of Guinea webinars, was interviewed by Sébastien Hervieu at French newspaper L’Express for this piece on the situation in the Gulf of Guinea and what is being done to reduce the risks of violent attacks.

Last year, 142 sailors were kidnapped in this area, a record, writes Hervieu. And continues to explain that the response remains difficult: Initially concentrated in Nigerian waters, the attacks are now spreading to neighbouring countries, from Ghana to Equatorial Guinea. And the goals have evolved, too. Previously, tankers were hijacked, their tanks siphoned off, and their goods resold. Dirk Siebels says:

During our Gulf of Guinea focus in September - October this year, senior analyst Dr. Dirk Siebels held an in-depth webinar on the GoG situation and the changes in threats the region has seen in recent years. One of these changes is a surge in kidnappings. The Financial Times interviewed Siebels on the background of this development.

“These groups are becoming much more comfortable keeping higher numbers of hostages and conducting ransom negotiations," says Dirk Siebels, "which means they get more money and become even greedier next time round." Siebels further explained that pirates also target mariners over cargo to limit time spent on the target vessel - as a way to avoid getting caught.

Safety at Sea’s Gabriella Twining reached out to Risk Intelligence for a qualified perspective on the diminishing use by the shipping industry of private maritime security companies (PMSCs), why any engagement of these services must be preceded by a rigorous Voyage Risk Assessment, VRA, and what makes this type of service difficult to use in many of the world’s high risk areas.

Director David Friesem further explained that although armed guards have a high success rate in preventing pirates from boarding vessels, having the onboard can stop vessels from accessing the very waters they are trying to navigate through, as officials consider their presence an offence.

During a webinar on the piracy situation in the Gulf of Guinea, Dirk Siebels brought perspective to the maritime industry’s claim that piracy is increasing in West Africa. Tradewinds’ Gary Dixon got in touch to learn more and share the perspectives in a feature article.

"Every attack is one too many. But the situation, while it is a concern, is far from spiralling out of control. The reality does not match those headline-grabbing claims about things getting worse.”

Merely comparing numbers of hostages does not provide an accurate picture. Many incidents that are reported now would not have been part of official statistics a few years ago and the challenge now may be that the composition of incident types have changed.