IBF declares Benin and Nigerian waters 'high risk' for piracy

Crew to get same benefits as in 'Somali' HRA

In response to the increasingly violent attacks on crews in the territorial waters of Nigeria and Benin in West Africa, the IBF (International Bargaining Forum) has declared those areas 'High Risk Areas' (HRA) for piracy. The decision will come into effect on April 1 and will give seafarers the same benefits in these waters as they get in the HRA off Somalia, including a doubling of basic wages and death or disability compensation, the need for enhanced security measures, advance notice of intent to enter the area and the right to refuse to enter it.

The IBF is a forum for discussion between the International Transport Workers’ Federation (ITF) and its member unions, and the maritime employers in the Joint Negotiating Group (JNG). Although the HRA decision pertains to ships that operate under an IBF agreement, the ITF is considering adopting these to non-IBF agreements as well, reports say.


The decision has come, the IBF says, as it is "increasingly concerned about the deteriorating situation in respect of security of crews employed on IBF vessels in the Gulf of Guinea. Specifically, available reports of attacks leading to forceful seizure of cargo and kidnapping of crewmembers have been considered at length. The increase in the number of attacks and the violent tactics of hostage taking applied by armed gangs have been found disturbing, particularly in the waters and ports of Nigeria and Benin. The necessity of an adequate response to the situation has become clear in an effort to bring greater security and guarantees to seafarers serving on IBF ships in the area".


Besides establishing coordinates for the West African HRA, the IBF has included "the territorial waters of Benin and Nigeria, including ports, terminals and roads anchorages, the delta of the Niger river, other inland waterways and port facilities, except only when the vessel is attached securely to a berth or SBM facility in a guarded port area". When ships are within the HRA, their crews will be entitled- in addition to adequate protection, advice and compensations already mentioned- to the advantages of Best Management Practices, sufficient notice of owners' intent to enter the HRA, repatriation at owner's cost at seafarer's request and support to seafarer families if a vessel is attacked.


It must be pointed out that, although the declaration of the new HRA was inevitable, there is a different dimension to piracy in the Gulf of Guinea when compared with that off Somalia: the former does not involve hijacking of ships for long periods because there are no safe havens for pirates off West Africa. Instead, pirates attack, loot valuables and cargo and take crews hostage for ransom. Some seafarers have been killed in the violence during the attacks; the GOG pirates seem much more trigger-happy.


Another worrying aspect of the GOG HRA for owners is this: Many vessels will stay for a much longer time within the GOG HRA than that off Somalia, where ships remain in the HRA for days, not weeks or even months as in the GOG. This is bound to escalate costs for all parties involved.

West African pirates- following Somali footsteps?

The UN Security Council this week voiced concern over increasing incidents of maritime piracy, armed robbery and reports of hostage-taking in the Gulf of Guinea, and called on the international community for help. The industry must be feeling a keen sense of déjà vu, also because pirates off the West coast of Africa seem to be copying the Somali pirates that had expanded operations from off their coast to waters much further afield. Recent developments indicate that Nigerian pirate gangs are similarly moving into the territorial waters of neighbouring countries in response to stricter Nigerian policing at home.

We had reported earlier that the coast of Benin had seen a marked escalation in pirate attacks this year as mainly Nigerian armed gangs raided ships to steal fuel, personal effects and stores. It is now reported by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) that attacks may be on the rise off Cameroon to the South, in part because the Nigerian military has unleashed a crackdown on gangs operating in its own waters. "We believe that this is happening because the Nigerian navy and coastguard has clamped down heavily on piracy in their waters, forcing the pirates to move elsewhere," says IMB’s Cyrus Mody. The Nigerian Joint Task Force is believed to have arrested thirty suspected pirates in the last month. There have been 19 pirate attacks off Benin this year, compared with none in 2010. Direct fallout: neighbouring Ghana says it is beefing up its own coastal security apparatus in response to spreading piracy.

Nonetheless, recent attacks on ships further afield- including at least one incident where the crew were held hostage- point to a worrisome trend in the Gulf of Guinea, an area rich in oil and a busy trading zone. The Cyprus-flagged Mattheus I was hijacked 60 nautical miles off the coast of Benin less than two weeks ago. The success of their brethren on Africa’s east coast is encouraging to these gangs, no doubt. "While Somalis are not coming to Nigeria with franchise kits, Nigerians do have smartphones and so can surf the Web and keep an eye on what the Somalis and other pirates are doing and incorporate inspired changes," Michael Frodl of U.S.-based consultancy C-LEVEL Maritime Risks told Reuters. "All this represents a growing menace to shipping off Nigeria, Benin, and other West African nations."

Insurers have already added Benin to their lists of high-risk areas, but analysts say that it is just a matter of time before the entire Gulf of Guinea region, rich in oil, minerals and other commodities, becomes widely perceived as an area hazardous to ships and crews in transit.

Many analysts see events in the Gulf of Guinea mirroring those in Somalia over time. Frodl says that pirates are moving offshore not just to avoid coastal patrols "but also to take advantage of ships letting down their guard in waters assumed to be safer. The attacks off Benin represent the same sort of pivot we saw from the Somalis when the more ambitious and capable pirates shunned the Gulf of Aden a couple of years ago for the Somali Basin," he said.

Most Gulf of Guinea pirates have not sought to hijack vessels so far, being apparently content with just loot and robbery. However, with unconfirmed reports suggesting that there have already been cases of West African pirates being paid small ransoms to release crews, the writing- as it was in Somalia for a long time- seems to be well and truly on the wall.