The International Chamber of Commerce’s International Maritime Bureau (IMB)’s annual piracy report recorded an increase of piracy and armed robbery incidents in 2020. In 2020, IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) received 195 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide, in comparison to 162 in 2019. The incidents included three hijacked vessels, 11 vessels […]
Increasing maritime threats have resulted in huge losses for the shipping companies and coastal States of the Gulf of Guinea, forcing them to find new methods to tackle maritime criminality. In order to answer to this problem, several private companies have started to provide maritime security services, which are custom made for the present modern […]
The COVID-19 pandemic has created important challenges in terms of coordinating work on safety and security within the Central and West African common maritime space. To address this, IMO helped set up a new video conferencing service for the Interregional Coordination Centre (ICC) in Yaoundé, Cameroon. The new system, fully installed since 18 December, allows regional stakeholders […]
Press release: The Council prolonged the mandates of its two Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) missions in Somalia and Operation ATALANTA. The mandate of EUCAP Somalia, the EU’s civilian capacity-building mission, EUTM Somalia, the EU’s military training mission, and Operation ATALANTA, the EU’s executive military maritime operation, will now run until 31 December 2022. The decision was […]
A new IMO-funded minibus will help support maritime security training in the Western Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden area. The minibus, for ferrying students attending courses at the Djibouti Regional Training Centre (DRTC), was funded through Japan’s contribution to the Djibouti Code of Conduct (DCoC) Trust Fund. During the handover ceremony (7 December), […]
IMO has taken part in the annual plenary meeting of G7 Group of Friends of the Gulf of Guinea (G7++ FoGG) which focuses on dealing with illegal activities at sea in the Gulf of Guinea. The online event (1-3 December) included discussions on how the Yaoundé Code of Conduct will function going forward. The Code’s primary objective […]
The Great Minds Group, in partnership with the Ghana Navy and Fisheries Commission Ghana and in association with the Gulf of Guinea Maritime Institute, is organizing the Secure Waters Africa Digit-Conference on 9-10 September 2020, under the theme: “Effective solutions to strengthen Africa’s maritime domain awareness and security”. This Digi-Conference, which will bring together senior […]
With over 30,000 kms of coastline, Africa has several key and strategic geographic locations that are considered as emerging trade hubs, which play a vital role in the continent’s socio-economic prosperity and the growth of global commerce. However, maritime insecurity presents a critical challenge to the continent, hindering it from unlocking its maritime potential. Crimes, […]
