The way forward in stopping piracy

Maritime crime prevention examined.

The way forward in stopping piracy

Written by Adeniyi Adejimi Osinowo/ACSS/ADF

Nigerian Rear Admiral Adeniyi Adejimi Osinowo outlines the key steps needed to stop piracy.

Combating piracy and armed attacks on shipping in the Gulf of Guinea requires work across the piracy cycle. This includes addressing shore-based causes, offshore transit vulnerabilities and the markets for piracy proceeds. Stemming the tide of attacks equally demands more deliberate cross-cutting efforts that incorporate preventive, deterrent, and collaborative measures among national and regional stakeholders. Here are some areas where West African security professionals can focus their efforts to maximize results.

Maritime space management: Improving security is more about the strategic management of maritime space than it is about naval fleets and patrol craft. Central and West African states must define clearer transit corridors and anchorage sites to protect merchant vessels in their territorial waters and exclusive economic zones, which extend 200 nautical miles (nmi) from a country’s coast. This would be akin to the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor that has functioned well in the Gulf of Aden and has been replicated as a Voluntary Reporting Area in the Gulf of Guinea. Such arrangements require a combination of regional and national collaboration that could be facilitated by the Maritime Inter-Regional Coordination Center (MICC) in Yaoundé, Cameroon.

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Source: defenceweb.co.za