Maritime Security

Affordable technologies can help with South Africa’s maritime security shortcomings

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Affordable technologies are available to assist South Africa regain lost maritime security capabilities, with the creation of a coastal surveillance network one solution. This is...

The key to success of the Nigerian Deep Blue Project does not lie offshore...

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The Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Bashir Jamoh, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari will launch the Deep...

Crew kidnapped from Ghanaian fishing vessel as West African piracy continues

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Five crew are reported kidnapped off the Ghanaian fishing vessel Iris S in the Gulf of Guinea in the latest incident of piracy in...

Piracy to come under the spotlight at IMDEC 2021

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Piracy, smuggling and trafficking will come under the spotlight at the International Maritime Defence Exhibition & Conference (IMDEC) in Ghana in July. The Ghanaian Navy...

SA Navy annual security conference goes virtual

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South Africa’s maritime service is taking up the cudgels of the virtual information era thrust on the world by COVID-19 and will on Friday...

US law enforcement participate in exercise Phoenix Express to help tackle maritime crime

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Law enforcement experts from the US Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) conducted a subject matter...

World maritime body wants action on Gulf of Guinea piracy

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The Gulf of Guinea is repeatedly the worst body of water in the world for mariners with high rates of piracy which a top...

Tuna fishing vessel crew kidnapped in the Gulf of Guinea

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Five crew members of the fishing vessel Atlantic Princess were kidnapped after pirates boarded her south of the Ghanaian port Tema. According to Dryad Global...

ISS: Africa must stake its claim in the Indo-Pacific

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East coast and island nations cannot afford to be marginalised in the latest redrawing of the geopolitical map. The Indo-Pacific is a term increasingly used...

Four Suspected Poachers Arrested in Table Mountain National Park

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South African National Parks (SANParks) announced today (17 March) the successful arrest of several suspected poachers in Table Mountain National Park (TMNP) during the...

SA in “conversation” with Mozambique on Op Copper

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Parliament’s Joint Standing Committee on Defence (JSCD) heard the South African military, in all probability in the form of the Joint Operations Division, “prompted...

USS warship seizes huge cache of weapons in the Arabian Sea

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The US Navy’s guided-missile cruiser USS Monterey (CG 61) seized a massive shipment of illicit weapons from a stateless dhow in international waters in...

Record heroin seizure by Canadian warship in the Arabian Sea

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The Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) ship HMCS Calgary has made the largest ever heroin bust in Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) history, operating under the...

Fire extinguished on oil tanker off Syria after suspected drone attack

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Syria's oil ministry said firefighters on Saturday put out a fire on an oil tanker off the Baniyas refinery after a suspected attack by...

Cabo Delgado insurgents pose an increasing maritime risk – Dryad

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The recent attacks on the coastal town of Palma, Cabo Delgado, over the past few weeks by Islamic State affiliated Ahlu Sunnah Wa-Jamamah (ASWJ),...

High value drug bust for French frigate in the Arabian Sea

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The French frigate FS Guépratte has seized 626 kg of methamphetamine worth more than $17 million during the latest Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) counter-narcotics...

Egypt becomes 34th member nation of the Combined Maritime Forces

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Egypt has become the 34th member of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a multinational coalition committed to countering illicit non-state actors on the high...

Gulf of Guinea retains world piracy hotspot status

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Africa, particularly the Gulf of Guinea, remains the world hotspot for piracy with 43% of all incidents reported in the first quarter of this...

Turkey, Libya committed to eastern Mediterranean maritime accord

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Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Monday that Turkey and Libya were committed to a 2019 maritime demarcation accord in the eastern Mediterranean, after...

Iran cargo ship attacked in Red Sea – Al Arabiya TV

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An Iranian cargo ship has come under attack in the Red Sea, Al Arabiya TV reported on Tuesday, quoting unnamed sources, and semi-official Iranian...

Five drug seizures in one week for Combined Maritime Forces in the Arabian Sea

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French Marine Nationale ships have recorded five seizures of illicit drugs in just six days whilst participating in a counter-narcotics focused operation under the...

Kenya Revenue Authority gets patrol boat for Lake Victoria

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The Kenya Revenue Authority (KRA) in partnership with Japan International Cooperation (JICA), and United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) has launched a new...

Saudi-led coalition destroys Houthi rigged boats, drones – state media

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The Saudi-led coalition battling Yemen’s Houthi forces has destroyed two explosive-laden boats that the Iran-aligned group planned to use in an “imminent” attack launched...

Israeli-owned ship hit by missile in suspected Iranian attack: Israeli official

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A cargo ship owned by an Israeli company was damaged by a missile in the Arabian Sea on Thursday in what was suspected to...

Nanosatellites to boost SA maritime security

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The Department of Science and Innovation (DSI) is investing R18.9 million in the development of nanosatellites to increase maritime domain awareness – a first...

French Falcon 50 helps intercept illegal fishing vessel off Senegal

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The crew of a French Falcon 50M maritime surveillance aircraft helped intercept an illegal fishing vessel off the coast of Senegal. On 18 March, the...

French Navy seizes six ton of cocaine in the Gulf of Guinea

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The French Navy’s amphibious helicopter carrier Dixmude has seized six tons of cocaine at sea in what the French defence ministry said is a...

Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose seizes third drugs haul in five weeks

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Royal Navy frigate HMS Montrose has struck for a third time in less than five weeks. In an operation lasting ten hours, the Montrose...

Fifteen crew kidnapped in Gulf of Guinea

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The Gulf of Guinea remains one of the most dangerous bodies of water worldwide for seafarers with the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) urging ships...

Crew kidnapped in chemical tanker hijacking off Nigeria

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On 11 March, about 220 nautical miles south-southwest of Lagos, the Malta-flagged chemical tanker Davide B was boarded by nine armed men and 15...

Aerial assets impact positively on Op Atalanta

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The European Union naval tasking off the Horn of Africa, which started life as protection for World Food Programme (WFP) vessels delivering food aid...

French frigate seizes 3 tons of narcotics in the Arabian Sea

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The French Marine Nationale ship (FS) Jean Bart intercepted over 2 900 kg of illicit drugs on 12 February in the latest successful Combined...

Piracy off West Africa at “breaking point”

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The seas off West Africa, particularly the Gulf of Guinea, are synonymous with piracy and other maritime crime. Respected maritime risk and security analysts...

ISS: Africa can learn maritime lessons from its small island states

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The African Union and African states should recognise the achievements of organisations like the Indian Ocean Commission. On 24 January, the French frigate Nivôse seized 444 kg of...

De Haas interceptors delivered to Nigeria

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The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has received more DHM1050 interceptor boats from De Haas Maasluis in the Netherlands for its Deep...

Israeli-owned ship in Dubai for assessment after explosion

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An Israeli-owned ship hit by an explosion in the Gulf of Oman strategic waterway has arrived at a port in Dubai, where is it...

Royal Navy warship seizes over $15 million worth of narcotics in Arabian Sea

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The Royal Navy warship HMS Montrose has intercepted over 2 400 kg of illicit drugs as a result of back-to-back successful interdictions in the...

International Maritime Organisation urges action to deter piracy in Gulf of Guinea

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The United Nations’ International Maritime Organisation (IMO) has expressed deep concern about the escalation in the number and severity of attacks on ships and...

Sailors kidnapped off Nigeria return to Turkey, describe death threats and forest captivity

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Fifteen Turkish sailors kidnapped by pirates last month in the Gulf of Guinea arrived back in Turkey on Sunday and the ship’s captain described...

ISS: Gulf of Guinea piracy: a symptom, not a cause, of insecurity

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Focusing on piracy is counter-productive if strategies neglect other maritime security problems in coastal communities. Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea appears to be worse...

Tanker attack in Gulf of Guinea

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A pirate action group (PAG) operating in the Gulf of Guinea is thought to be behind yet another attack this time on a tanker. According...

Pirate action group believed to be operating in Gulf of Guinea

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A pirate action group (PAG) has been operating along the West African coast since 6 February and is believed to be using a captured...

CSIS: A Transatlantic Approach to Address Growing Maritime Insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea

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The recent news headline said it all: “Pirates kidnap 15 Turkish sailors in attack on container ship” off the Nigerian coast in the Gulf of Guinea....

Pirates target two tankers in Gulf of Guinea

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Two vessels have been attacked by pirates; one in the Gulf of Guinea and the other just outside of it, possibly by the same...

Pirates who kidnapped Turks make contact to talk ransom: media

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Pirates who kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish-crewed container ship in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday have made their first contact with the...

Feature: Maritime cyber security – best practices and lessons learnt

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In this feature we look at a seminar on the maritime cyber security domain, an overview of the International Maritime Organisation’s cyber security doctrine...

French frigate Nivose seizes half a ton of drugs off Mozambique

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The French frigate Nivose has seized 444 kg of methamphetamine and heroin valued at more than 40 million euros off the coast of Mozambique. This...

No word from pirates who seized sailors off Nigeria, Turkey says

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Pirates who seized 15 sailors when they stormed a Turkish-crewed container ship in the Gulf of Guinea two days ago have not yet made...

Explainer: Why are pirates attacking ships in the Gulf of Guinea?

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Pirates are stepping up attacks on ships in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea, defying regional navies. On Saturday, pirates off Nigeria kidnapped 15 sailors...

Pirates kidnap 15 sailors in attack on Turkish container ship off Nigeria

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Pirates off Nigeria’s coast kidnapped 15 sailors from a Turkish container ship in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday in a brazen and violent...