Piracy: from East to West

John Cochrane, of IHS, compares east and west African piracy

Gulf of Guinea

Since 2011, the frequency of violent incidents in the Gulf of Guinea has increased, with attacks developing from low-level robbery to hijacking and theft of cargo. (From a legal perspective, most violent crime in the Gulf of Guinea takes place in territorial, rather than international, waters and is classified as “sea robbery” rather than “piracy”.) In July 2013, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) released a report stating that of the 31 pirate attacks reported in the Gulf of Guinea between January and June 2013, 22 had occurred off the coast of Nigeria. This compared to a total of 27 incidents in 2012, and 10 in 2011. As of 26 February 2014, IHS Country Risk data records 29 incidents involving tankers in the Gulf of Guinea in the last 12 months; six tankers were hijacked.