Kayode Shopekan
NIGERIA’S maritime security intervention has once again suffered setback, as pirates attacked a ship in the Gulf of Guinea, merely 3 months after the launch of their Deep Blue project.
The International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC), which confirmed the attack, noted that two crew members were injured and another missing.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelReports state that the five pirates approached in a speedboat, and opened fire on the offshore supply ship which was at anchorage, till they were able to board it.
The remaining members of the crew were reported safe by local authorities.
The IMB’s latest global piracy report has recently detected a rise in incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships in 2021 alone, as 68 incidents have been recorded, and 50 crew members kidnapped within few months.
As they welcome developments to reduce piracy and armed robbery activities in the Gulf of Guinea, IMB Director, Michael Howlett, predicts that maritime initiatives like Nigeria’s Deep Blue Project and Gulf of Guinea Maritime Collaboration Forum – will continue to strengthen knowledge sharing channels and reduce risk to seafarers in the region.
