European shipowners are extremely concerned about piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea. The latest incident in South Nigeria, which involved a suspected pirate vessel and Danish Frigate Esben Snare and resulted in loss of life, only serves to further highlight the severity of the piracy threat in the Gulf of Guinea.
“The situation in the Gulf of Guinea has been a top priority for the European shipping industry in the past years. The number of piracy incidents and level of violence cause great concerns for commercial shipping and for the safety and security of seafarers sailing in the area”, stated ECSA’s President Claes Berglund.
ECSA continues to fully support the EU’s activities in the Gulf of Guinea, including the Coordinated Maritime Presence (CMP) mechanism launched in January 2021. The CMP is a positive step to coordinate Member States’ resources in the region, as well as to build cooperation and capacity with the coastal states, as these actions are crucial to address this complex issue. The recent incident however shows that more action is required to address this serious issue and that the presence of naval assets is key to ensure that vessels and their crew can transit safely in the Gulf of Guinea.
“ECSA fully appreciated the commitments already made by some EU Member States to deploy air and naval assets in the region over the past months and years. We would like to strongly encourage Member States to consider this as an issue of high priority and to allocate adequate assets to strengthen maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea”, Mr Berglund continued. “This, together with cooperation efforts and capacity building in the area, is key to safeguard trade and development in the region and globally”, he concluded.