Gulf of Guinea - The African Mirror

Apr

2024

West Africa’s falling fish stocks: illegal Chinese trawlers, climate change and artisanal fishing fleets to blame

AVERAGE fish catches by traditional fishing communities along the West African coast have declined significantly over the past three decades. Along the Gulf of Guinea, stretching from Côte d'Ivoire to Nigeria, fishers launch their wooden canoes from the beach to catch small pelagic fish, like sardines and anchovies, which they sell into local informal markets to make a living. They have done this for generations, but since the 1990s, a decline in the catch has put their livelihoods at risk. In Ghana, total landings of small pelagic fish fell by 59% between 1993 and 2019, despite increased fishing efforts. Landings…

Mar

2024

By IFESINACHI OKAFOR-YARWOOD

West Africa’s coast was a haven for piracy and illegal fishing – how technology is changing the picture

SPECIAL FEATURES: ANALYSIS

THE Gulf of Guinea – a coastal region that stretches from Senegal to Angola – is endowed with vast reserves of hydrocarbon, mineral and fisheries resources. It is also an important route for international commerce, making it critical to the development of countries in the region. IFESINACHI OKAFOR-YARWOOD, Lecturer, University of St Andrews For a long time, however, countries in the Gulf of Guinea haven’t properly monitored what’s happening in their waters. This has allowed security threats at sea to flourish. The threats include illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, drug trafficking, piracy and armed robbery, and toxic waste dumping. For…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Suspected pirates board Singaporean ship

NEWS

A Singapore-registered oil tanker was boarded by "unidentified persons" about 300 nautical miles (555 km) off Ivory Coast in the Gulf of Guinea, the city-state's port authority said. The Gulf of Guinea has become a hotspot for global piracy in recent years, although incidents have dwindled since 2021 as national authorities stepped up security efforts, helped by foreign naval ships, the United Nations says. The tanker Success 9 had 20 crew of various nationalities aboard, one of whom was Singaporean when it "was boarded by unidentified persons" on Monday, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said. In a…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Ship seized by pirates seen 540 miles west from Gulf of Guinea attack point

NEWS

A Danish-owned vessel that was boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday was spotted about 540 miles further offshore, according to a maritime cooperation centre monitoring security in the area. The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer was boarded by five armed people some 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire. All 16 crew sought refuge in a safe room aboard, according to the cooperation centre. Danish marine fuels supplier Monjasa, the owner of Monjasa Reformer, said on Tuesday all communications channels with the vessel were down. The company was unable to provide further detail…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Pirates strike in the Gulf of Guinea

NEWS

A Danish-owned vessel that was boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea was spotted about 540 miles further offshore, according to a maritime cooperation centre monitoring security in the area. The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer was boarded by five armed people some 140 miles west of the Republic of Congo's Port Pointe-Noire. All 16 crew sought refuge in a safe room aboard, according to the cooperation centre. Danish marine fuels supplier Monjasa, owner of Monjasa Reformer, said on Tuesday all communications channels with the vessel were down. The company was unable to provide further detail on Wednesday…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Sailors describe death threats and forest captivity

NEWS

FIFTEEN Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea arrived back in Turkey yesterday and the ship's captain described how they faced death threats and were held in a forest during their three-week ordeal. The sailors hugged relatives as they arrived before dawn at Istanbul Airport, where they were greeted by Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu and other officials, two days after news of their release in Nigeria emerged. "We were in a forest. There were tough conditions. There were constantly armed men at our side," Mustafa Kaya, captain of the ship "Mozart" from which the…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

15 abducted Turkish sailors freed

NEWS

FIFTEEN Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea have been freed in Nigeria and will head home, a shipping company executive said yesterday, two weeks after the attackers made contact to discuss a ransom. One sailor, a citizen of Azerbaijan, was killed in the raid on January 23 which crew, family members and security sources described as a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack. Those kidnapped were from Turkey. Speaking to state TV broadcaster TRT Haber, Levent Karsan from Istanbul-based Boden Shipping said the sailors were all in good health in Nigeria and would be brought to…

Feb

2021

By The African Mirror

Nigeria gets tough against kidnap colluders

NEWS

CAMILUS EBOH and LIBBY GEORGE NIGERIA’S navy plans to strengthen its measures to root out and punish personnel who collude with kidnappers and criminals, its new naval chief said. Kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea, which covers 2.3 million sq km and borders some 20 countries, hit a record last year, according to the International Maritime Bureau. Well-armed, violent pirates operate there out of Nigeria's hard-to-police Delta swamps, and experts say their increasingly bold tactics show that better enforcement is badly needed. Rear Admiral A.Z. Gambo, who was appointed as Nigeria's naval chief of staff last month, said he would…

Jan

2021

By The African Mirror

Gulf of Guinea pirates in ransom talks

NEWS

PIRATES who kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish-crewed container ship in the Gulf of Guinea have made their first contact with the shipping company to discuss a ransom, Turkish state media has reported. "Communication has been established with crew members of the Mozart container ship," Istanbul-based Boden Shipping, which provides technical management services for the vessel, was quoted as saying by state-owned Anadolu news agency. "Information has been obtained that all 15 crew members are in good health, not wounded and together," it said. One sailor, an Azerbaijani citizen, was killed in the raid while those kidnapped are from Turkey,…

Oct

2020

By The African Mirror

Kidnappings by pirates up 40% in Gulf of Guinea

NEWS

KIDNAPPINGS rose by 40% in the Gulf of Guinea in the first nine months of this year, and the region of West Africa's coast now accounts for 95% of global maritime kidnappings, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has revealed. Eighty seafarers were taken in the Gulf of Guinea, a 2.3 million sq km (888,000 sq m) area bordering more than a dozen countries, sharply up from the same period in 2019, and the pirates are attacking further out to sea than before, the IMB said. Pirates armed with guns and knives attack everything from oil platforms to fishing vessels and…