Pirate attacks have increased by 40 per cent this year with more than 80 kidnappings at sea.
The pandemic is blamed for the rise after tankers were forced to drop anchor offshore, unable to dock at ports due to restrictions that various countries put in place, and then vulnerable to take over by boarding parties.
The International Maritime Bureau has received notice of 159 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2020, with a large proportion of those relating to incidents in the Gulf of Guinea.
The issue has caught the attention of policy makers. In January, the EU is launching a £1.3 million ($1.73m) maritime security programme to train personnel to patrol international waters to address the rising number of incidents.
Earlier this year, the UAE-managed tanker Pyxis Theta was targeted 39 kilometres off Cotonou, on the south coast of Benin in west Africa. Five pirates approached the vessel in a speedboat and the marauders escaped after a high-sea chase.
“The accommodation was locked down and all non-essential crew mustered in the citadel,” the incident report said. “Master increased speed and commenced evasive manoeuvres, resulting in the persons aborting the approach and moving away. The tanker and crew safe.”
Other crews were less fortunate, especially in the waters west of Africa where pirates are taking sailors hostage. "Approximately 95 per cent of global crew kidnappings have taken place in the Gulf of Guinea, with 81 crew confirmed as kidnapped in 15 separate incidents," IMB's director Michael Howlett told The National. "The attacks are aimed at all types of vessels and occurring at greater distances from the shore."
The Gulf of Guinea is a 2.3 million square kilometre area bordering more than a dozen countries, and the number of kidnappings within its waters is up sharply from 2019, the IMB said.
Pirates armed with guns and knives attack everything from oil platforms to fishing vessels and refrigerated cargo ships.
In one attack, 176km from the coast, the furthest offshore attack reported off West Africa, pirates took 13 crew members hostage, which the IMB said illustrated “how well-organised and far-reaching” the assailants are.
“Crews are facing exceptional pressures due to Covid-19 and the risk of violent piracy or armed robbery is an extra stress,” said Mr Howlett. “While IMB liaises with authorities swiftly in case of a pirate attack, we encourage all coastal states and regional co-operations to take responsibility for ensuring maritime security within their exclusive economic zone to achieve safer seas and secure trade.”
Earlier this month, Italian armed forces on the Navy ship Martinengo, which was patrolling in the region, took part in two rescues after pirate attacks. In November, Nigerian pirates demanded a $1m ransom in exchange for the release of eight hostages from the Milano 1 cargo ship.
The vessel, registered in St Kitts but operated by a Lebanese firm, was contracted by a Nigerian company to transport glass between Nigeria and Cameroon. The ship was released but only two crew members were freed. Three Lebanese, one of them the captain, and two Egyptians were among the hostages.
In September, armed pirates attacked a refrigerated cargo ship off Lagos, Nigeria, and kidnapped two crew members. The rest of the crew locked themselves inside the citadel and the vessel was discovered floating adrift by a Nigerian naval team.
Eight pirates armed with machine guns boarded a tanker in July off Bayelsa, Nigeria.
They held all 19 crew members hostage and stole the ship’s documents and other valuable items before escaping.
Experts say the bulk of the attackers come from Nigeria’s Niger Delta, which produces most of the petroleum in the country, and is Africa’s largest oil exporter.
Last year saw a 25-year low in the number of piracy and armed robbery attacks. The IMB said the increase in attacks is in part because of the pandemic, with ships stranded due to quarantine rules.
Prof Brandon Prins of the University of Tennessee-Knoxville said the fallout from the pandemic could see piracy increase.
“My fear has always been that Covid-19 would reduce global trade, which lowers growth, increases poverty and joblessness and then leads to more sea piracy,” he told Global Risk Insight.
“There is certainly a concern that, with trade going down, there will be fewer sailors on board ships and therefore fewer crew monitoring for potential pirates or armed robbers.”
In 2019, Nigeria enacted a standalone law against piracy, and in August, a court in the oil centre of Port Harcourt made the first convictions under the new legislation.
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
Based: Dubai, UAE
Sector: Entertainment
Number of staff: 210
Investment raised: $75 million from investors including Galaxy Interactive, Riyadh Season, Sega Ventures and Apis Venture Partners
New UK refugee system
- A new “core protection” for refugees moving from permanent to a more basic, temporary protection
- Shortened leave to remain - refugees will receive 30 months instead of five years
- A longer path to settlement with no indefinite settled status until a refugee has spent 20 years in Britain
- To encourage refugees to integrate the government will encourage them to out of the core protection route wherever possible.
- Under core protection there will be no automatic right to family reunion
- Refugees will have a reduced right to public funds
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New process leads to panic among jobseekers
As a UAE-based travel agent who processes tourist visas from the Philippines, Jennifer Pacia Gado is fielding a lot of calls from concerned travellers just now. And they are all asking the same question.
“My clients are mostly Filipinos, and they [all want to know] about good conduct certificates,” says the 34-year-old Filipina, who has lived in the UAE for five years.
Ms Gado contacted the Philippines Embassy to get more information on the certificate so she can share it with her clients. She says many are worried about the process and associated costs – which could be as high as Dh500 to obtain and attest a good conduct certificate from the Philippines for jobseekers already living in the UAE.
“They are worried about this because when they arrive here without the NBI [National Bureau of Investigation] clearance, it is a hassle because it takes time,” she says.
“They need to go first to the embassy to apply for the application of the NBI clearance. After that they have go to the police station [in the UAE] for the fingerprints. And then they will apply for the special power of attorney so that someone can finish the process in the Philippines. So it is a long process and more expensive if you are doing it from here.”
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Global state-owned investor ranking by size
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China
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UAE
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Women's final
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How to apply for a drone permit
- Individuals must register on UAE Drone app or website using their UAE Pass
- Add all their personal details, including name, nationality, passport number, Emiratis ID, email and phone number
- Upload the training certificate from a centre accredited by the GCAA
- Submit their request
What are the regulations?
- Fly it within visual line of sight
- Never over populated areas
- Ensure maximum flying height of 400 feet (122 metres) above ground level is not crossed
- Users must avoid flying over restricted areas listed on the UAE Drone app
- Only fly the drone during the day, and never at night
- Should have a live feed of the drone flight
- Drones must weigh 5 kg or less
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Why it pays to compare
A comparison of sending Dh20,000 from the UAE using two different routes at the same time - the first direct from a UAE bank to a bank in Germany, and the second from the same UAE bank via an online platform to Germany - found key differences in cost and speed. The transfers were both initiated on January 30.
Route 1: bank transfer
The UAE bank charged Dh152.25 for the Dh20,000 transfer. On top of that, their exchange rate margin added a difference of around Dh415, compared with the mid-market rate.
Total cost: Dh567.25 - around 2.9 per cent of the total amount
Total received: €4,670.30
Route 2: online platform
The UAE bank’s charge for sending Dh20,000 to a UK dirham-denominated account was Dh2.10. The exchange rate margin cost was Dh60, plus a Dh12 fee.
Total cost: Dh74.10, around 0.4 per cent of the transaction
Total received: €4,756
The UAE bank transfer was far quicker – around two to three working days, while the online platform took around four to five days, but was considerably cheaper. In the online platform transfer, the funds were also exposed to currency risk during the period it took for them to arrive.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
