Dryad Maritime Warns of Surge in Gulf of Guinea Kidnap Incidents

uk maritime intelligence issuer, Dryad Maritime, has issued a unique advisory warning all of its transport customers on the increased hazard of “crew kidnap” within the Gulf of Guinea. Dryad stated that since it issued the warning, “ in addition attacks on vessels have taken location within a unmarried week as two Nigerian-flagged vessels had been targeted by using maritime criminals on consecutive days, ensuing inside the kidnap of six crew members.”

at the 4th of March, “MV Prince Joseph 1 become attacked offshore Akwa Ibom state, closely followed with the aid of an attack on the offshore tug, ‘MV Asha Deep’ a day later off Bayelsa country; a selected hotspot for latest incidents,” Dryad stated.

“these most recent attacks make this the most important surge over a 3 month period since Dryad’s information commenced with eight vessels attacked and 20 group participants kidnapped.  in this short period, crook gangs have operated throughout a extensive location, from the seas off Nigeria to those off Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.  at the time of writing it's far assessed that 12 crew individuals remain in captivity.”

Ian Millen, Dryad Maritime’s Director of Intelligence said: “the 2 incidents this week factor to the operation of at the least  separate criminal gangs, the usage of the cover of estuaries and the riverine device of the Niger Delta to take their sufferers into captivity.

“If latest styles are accompanied, it's miles likely that the present day assaults will have centered senior crew, consisting of the grasp and leader Engineer, as these are the maximum likely to attract higher price ransom payments, regularly because of the fact that a massive range may be non-Nigerian.  this is based totally on preceding intelligence which has visible such team being singled out, specially ships’ Captains and leader engineers.”

The bulletin also stated that “pirates have additionally struck beyond the beaches of Nigeria inside the last three months with kidnaps of team participants from vessels within the seas off Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.” Dryad brought that a “variety of different unsuccessful assaults have likely been geared toward kidnap.  in one in all likelihood strive remaining yr, a vessel changed into focused a few a hundred and sixty nautical miles out to sea.

Millen indicated that while the “kidnap of the us Captain and chief Engineer of the aid vessel ‘MV C Retriever’ in October 2013 received a excessive stage of media insurance, the identical cannot be said for those kidnapped in view that. consequently, the actual level of this type of maritime crime is not properly understood.  deliver proprietors whose crews are focused are understandably tight-lipped at some point of touchy ransom negotiations, however their silence after the occasion does little to warn other seafarers of this risk or assist others to apprehend the proper scale of the problem.

“in relation to mitigating the numerous range of threats inside the Gulf of Guinea, which includes kidnap, one size does now not fit all,” he persisted. “the important thing to success lies in finding the proper blend of measures for the character deliver and its running environment.  tracking ships and actively diverting them away from recognised and rising threats is our daily commercial enterprise.

“however there is an awful lot that vessels can do to assist themselves, from final alert and gazing first-class exercise to having well drilled crews who understand what to do and the way to name for help inside the event of threat. The instances of unsuccessful assaults that we've seen have nearly continually been where ships had been privy to the danger and feature taken action to keep away from being boarded.”