London and Kuala Lumpur-based anti-piracy body The ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has called for a “continued, robust and coordinated regional and international naval presence” to deter piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
The plea came amid two hijacking incidents within three weeks in the region, the latest being an attack on Singapore-registered Hai Soon Diesel Trading’s 6,100-dwt chemical/product tanker Success 9 (built 2003), which was boarded 309 nautical miles south-west of Abidjan in the Ivory Coast at the start of the week.
And on 25 March a Monjasa product tanker Monjasa Reformer was hijacked 140 nautical miles off the coast of The Congo. The vessel was uncontactable for five days before it was located by a French navy vessel with six seafarers reported missing.
Despite the high-profile incidents, the IMB noted a decline in piracy activity in the region in the first quarter of the year, with only five incidents compared with eight for the corresponding period of 2022 and 16 in the previous year.
Earlier this week, International Maritime Organization secretary general Kitack Lim said he was “deeply concerned” over the recent kidnapping of six crew members from the Monjasa Reformer and the separate incident involving Success 9.
“I would like to appreciate the regional and international efforts to respond to this disturbing incident,” Lim said. “I wish to reiterate that the ongoing threat must be addressed cohesively, involving all relevant actors and including regional entities.”
The IMB said the first quarter saw piracy incidents worldwide at their lowest since 1993, with just 27 attacks compared to 37 in the same period of last year.
Vessels were boarded in 24 out of the 27 incidents, with two attempted boardings and one actual hijack.
The Singapore Straits saw eight reported incidents, mostly petty thefts, a drop on the quarterly figure for 2022, the IMB added.
