Climate change may be fuelling a resurgence of piracy across Africa: In the churning waters off Nigeria, armed pirates in small skiffs speed towards a cargo ship. They clamber aboard, seizing control of the vessel and its valuable cargo. This isn’t a scene from a swashbuckling film; it’s a stark reality for seafarers in many …
Houthi militant attacks in the Red Sea raise fears of Somali piracy resurgence: Renewed attacks on ships by suspected Somali pirates since November 2023 have fuelled fear of a new threat of piracy off the east coast of Africa. The area at risk stretches from the Red Sea to the Gulf of Aden and the …
Somali piracy, once an unsolvable security threat, has almost completely stopped. Here’s why: In 2011, pirates carried out 212 attacks in a vast area spanning Somali waters, the Indian Ocean, the Red Sea and the Gulf of Aden, actions that the World Bank said cost the world economy US$ 18 billion a year. Armed pirates …
South Africa in the news: Task force tackling piracy and wildlife trafficking in the Sulu and Celebes Seas to be launched: Its aim is to ensure criminal gangs can no longer find the region’s wildlife an ‘easy target’ new task force focused on taking down piracy, abductions and marine wildlife trafficking is set to be …
Attacks at sea aren’t all linked to piracy. Why it’s important to unpick what’s what: Nigerian Navy Special forces pretend to arrest pirates during a joint military exercise with the French navy. Photo by Pius Utomi Ekpei/AFP via Getty Images Pirate attacks against merchant ships off the African coast have been reported regularly over the …
Lift for maritime sector in Kenya and Djibouti after fall in piracy: US service members practising water rescue techniques during a routine training exercise off the coast of Djibouti in 2007. EPA/US NAVY/MC1 MICHAEL R. MCCORMICK The upsurge of Somali piracy after 2005 led to significant international activity in the Horn of Africa. Naval missions, …
Somali piracy and countering other organised crimes at sea: A special team on board a Dutch mission ship carrying out manoeuvres for capturing pirates at sea. EPA/Robin Utrecht The world’s oceans are at the centre of transnational organised crimes committed by profit-driven networks operating across borders. The United Nations Security Council recently convened to discuss …