The Gulf of Guinea and West Africa: a new focal point?

[davidbfpo]

A Reuters report on West African piracy, which lays much of the blame on Nigerian gangs, as illustrated by this passage:

Nigerian pirates can make in 10 days what Somalis make in 10 months....It's easier to offload oil to the local black market than negotiate ransom with foreign ship owners.

The usual references to greater regional co-operation, with external (EU) funding for coastguard training. When as a speaker at IISS last week remarked:

The main OCG is the state.

Another contributor pointed to the huge diversion under-way in Nigeria of oil, which can only be explained by systematic and widespread collusion, including purchases by the international oil companies. IIRC 10% of production was missing.

Link To Reuters:http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/...0BIAJ520130529

Link to IISS talk on West African crime and development:http://www.iiss.org/en/events/events...velopment-98fd

[davidbfpo]

A commentary by RUSI, a general overview, with one new item (highlighted below) and ends on a rather pessimistic conclusion:

While the consequences of the Arab Spring and the spectre of terrorism has renewed the international community's interest in West Africa, and tackling organised crime in the region remains a priority for European member states, the increasingly visible crime-terror nexus points to a situation out of control.

The new item, with my emphasis:

Late last month, UK Border Force officials seized cocaine valued at over £17 million at the Port of Tilbury in Essex. While the value of the drugs is not the largest on record, what makes this particular seizure of interest is that the drugs are believed to have been smuggled via Senegal to Europe by an Al-Qa'ida affiliated group. If confirmed, this will be the first time an Islamist terrorist group has attempted to ship a considerable amount of Class A drugs directly to Europe from West Africa and is a significant step for Al-Qa'ida in the Maghreb (AQIM) in terms of both funding and operations. Officials believe the cocaine was part of a major deal between AQIM and FARC (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia) who provided cocaine in return for weapons the Islamist terrorist group had procured - possibly from Libya. The seizure of such a large volume of drugs suggests a transnational network not seen since FARC and the IRA collaborated in the early years of the last decade.

Link:http://www.rusi.org/analysis/comment...5193598A7994E/

No-one else appears to have considered the apparent linkage between AQIM & FARC - well in the public domain. Tilbury is one of the UK's busiest container ports, with not infrequent seizures before of cocaine. The method for this shipment was to put six holdalls atop a load of tin alloys from Senegal, with a tarpaulin over the container and cargo seals in place - a load in transit to Belgium:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-suffolk-22251528

[davidbfpo]

The website of the West African Commission on Drugs (WACD):

The Commission comprises a group of distinguished West Africans from the worlds of politics, civil society, health, security and the judiciary.

Link:http://www.wacommissionondrugs.org/

[davidbfpo]

A bit more detail on the DEA's sting off Guinea:http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/0...96N0AR20130724

Moderator at work

With the reported growth in piracy off West Africa a new thread was started 21st October 2013, 'West African piracy: an old problem escalates' and eight maritime / piracy posts have been copied from this thread to there (ends).

[davidbfpo]

An update by Reuters on Guinea which starts with:

A surge in cocaine trafficking has transformed Guinea into West Africa's latest drug hot spot, jeopardising President Alpha Conde's efforts to rebuild state institutions after a military coup and attract billion of dollars in mining investment.

Link:http://uk.reuters.com/article/2014/0...A0U0FY20140131

[davidbfpo]

The UK Chamber of Shipping, clearly an interest group, has published a report and in summary says:

Most people are aware of pirate activity off Somalia, but lawlessness in the Gulf of Guinea is a major threat to our seafarers, the UK’s energy and trade security, and to the economic development of the region. Nigeria and other states in the region have known for 30 years that piracy was a problem, but too little has been done and enough is enough.

Some figures cited:

• In the past decade, 45 seafarers have been killed and 459 seafarers have been held hostage
• There is at least one attack per week on a ship operating in the region, but up to two thirds of attacks are believed to go unreported
• In 2013, 60% of attacks took place in Nigerian territorial waters and there is a trend for increasing violence within attacks
• Around 12% of the UK’s crude oil is imported from Nigeria, and by 2050 the region will hold 25% of the world’s oil production
• Around 5000 vessels, of all nationalities, call at Nigerian ports every year
• Nigerian statistics shows that 300,000 barrels of oil are stolen every single day

On a very quick read there is no reference to seeking Royal Navy help, rather direct payment to local navies / coastguards can help.



Link to press release:http://www.ukchamberofshipping.com/n...w-study-shows/ and the nine page report:http://www.ukchamberofshipping.com/m...-july_2014.pdf

[davidbfpo]

Well is this rhetoric or reality time will tell.

The SA Navy will deploy warships on Africa’s west coast as far north as the Gulf of Guinea. The deployments, early next year, will involve frigates and possibly submarines Johannesburg daily, The Times, reported. Ships of the Namibian and Angolan navies will also take part in the operation to combat pirate attacks. Oil tankers have been the pirates' preferred targets.

Link:http://www.defenceweb.co.za/index.ph...ity&Itemid=233

Yes a small number of oil tankers - with product, not crude oil - have been attacked and recently there was an attempt a long way offshore from Nigeria.

Open sources do not suggest either Angola or Namibia have a navy beyond a few patrol vessels.