West Africa loses $2b annually to maritime piracy

West Africa loses $2 billion annually due to the activities of maritime piracy and armed robbery at sea, the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Geoffrey Mawuli Biekro, has said.

According to him, maritime piracy and armed robbery attacks on the African continent mainly took place along the Gulf of Guinea and the Indian Ocean.

Rear Admiral Biekro was delivering a public lecture on the topic, “The Spate of Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea and its Impact on the Maritime Industry: The Role of Maritime Educational Institutions” in Accra.  

The lecture was part of the maiden Regional Maritime University Alumni Homecoming and fundraising event.

Oil and gas discoveries

Real Admiral Biekro said the prospects of the oil and gas industry were threatened by the activities of maritime pirates and armed robbers at sea, so efforts were required to combat the menace.

He said maritime piracy had direct bearing on the economic development of any country and asked for great attention to be paid to it which was needed to ensure maritime security around the country’s territorial waters.

According to him, the International Maritime Organisation (IMO) was helping countries with technical support to address some of the challenges associated with maritime piracy.

Touching on Ghana’s effort to ensure maritime security, Rear Admiral Biekro said the country had established the Marine Police Unit and increased the Navy’s fleet of ships to improve the monitoring of the country’s territorial waters.

Piracy victim

An Electrical Engineer, Mr Jewel Ahiable, who was a victim of maritime piracy, recounted his ordeal, saying he and his crew members were in captivity for two years and nine months.

He said when the ship was captured, the Somali pirates demanded a ransom of $10million, which the ship's owners refused to pay. At one point, he said, the pirates, in their desperate attempt to make profit, even threatened to sell the crew members’ hearts and kidneys.