CoverHeadlinesMaritime Security Six Nigerians Arrested In Togo For Piracy, Illicit Activities By maritimemag May 17, 2019 ShareTweet 0 HMS Montrose, who is part of NATO’s counter piracy mission, Operation Ocean Shield off the Horn of Africa, prevented a gang of suspected pirates from prowling in to the Indian Ocean to attack merchant ships. A pirate gang consisting of ten men was seen acting suspiciously near to a known pirate camp off the coast of Somalia. Their boat, loaded with ladders and fuel drums was towing two other smaller vessels that have been traditionally used for pirate attacks against ships HMS Montrose launched her Lynx helicopter and a boat of Royal Marines and Sailors to investigate. Once the suspected pirates spotted the helicopter and boarding team, four of the suspected pirates took one of the smaller boats and tried to head for the shore. The six remaining men stopped in the water and when the Lynx helicopter hovered overhead they attempted to discard the pirate ladders overboard. After the navy boarding team confiscated all the pirate gear, thus ensuring that the gang could no longer pose a threat to merchantmen, they were transferred to the remaining skiff. Speaking about the incident, Commander Jonathen Lett said “Today’s disruption of a pirate gang in the Somali Basin by a NATO warship was very rewarding. Our actions prevented suspected pirates from heading out to sea to prey on innocent merchantmen. HMS Montrose continues to help keep the seas safe”. The NATO Task Force patrols the Gulf of Aden and Somali Basin as part of the international effort to counter the scourge of piracy. Despite the vastness of the ocean, counter piracy forces, such as NATO, the Combined Maritime Forces, the EU Naval Force and other independent maritime forces continue to successfully disrupt pirate activity and help safeguard merchant traffic. By ZION Olalekan Police have arrested six Nigerian and two Togolese pirates over a foiled attack on an oil tanker in the Gulf of Guinea, Togo’s security minister said Monday. “Pirates aboard a dugout canoe boarded the GDona1 tanker flying a Togolese flag and tried to divert it from its destination,” Security Minister Yark Damehame said in a statement. “Happily, the Togolese navy foiled this attack,” the statement said. The Gulf of Guinea is a hotbed of sea piracy. From the start of the year through April, more than 38 incidents have been reported,including 10 kidnappings. Most of the incidents have been blamed on armed Nigerian groups off the Niger Delta. “Recent attacks in Togo waters have been rare in 2019,” Dirk Steffan of the consultancy Risk Intelligence told AFP. He described Sunday’s foiled attack as “only one notable incident,” adding: “We believe that it was involved in fuel smuggling and that the incident was related to illicit activity, rather than an outright piracy attack.” © 2019, maritimemag. All rights reserved.
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