Piracy in Africa-The ungoverned seas
The waters around Somalia are calmer, but piracy in west Africa is rising
LAGOS AND MANAMA | <
http://www.economist.com/printedition/2014-11-29> From
the print edition
Nov 29th 2014 |
STICK-SLIM and still, Captain Lube sits in Lagos's commercial fishing
harbour, watching his crew clean a rusting shrimp trawler. He used to look
forward to guiding them out to the rough Atlantic waters. But nowadays he
has grown too afraid to venture far from the coast. Pirates infest west
Africa's seas, and he has seen many fellow captains kidnapped and sometimes
killed. He has become jumpy; every approaching vessel might pose a danger.
The trawling company for which he works says that attacks last year were
"too many to count".
Just a few years ago the most dangerous waters in the world were off the
coast of Somalia. But piracy there has fallen dramatically. It is more than
two years since Somali pirates last successfully boarded a ship. At their
peak in 2011, attacks were taking place almost daily. The number of attempts
has fallen to a handful every month. Now it is the Gulf of Guinea that is
the worst piracy hotspot, accounting for 19% of attacks worldwide, as
recorded by the International Maritime Bureau. It registers an attack nearly
every week (see map). The numbers are probably underestimates. America's
Office of Naval Intelligence reckons the real figure is more than twice as
large-and growing.....
Read it in PDF attachment further below:
Berhane
Received on Sat Nov 29 2014 - 17:40:49 EST