By Sodeinde Temidayo David
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) has revealed that the deployment of the Deep Blue Project assets since February has reduced the risk of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea and the Nigerian Waters.
The agency, according to its Director-General of NIMASA, Mr Bashir Jamoh, also stated that it led to the end of War Risk Insurance premium on Nigeria bound cargoes.
At a meeting with the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers Council (NSC), Mr Emmanuel Jime, on Sunday, the NIMASA boss revealed that the international shipping community had acknowledged the progress made by Nigeria in a bid to reduce piracy in the Gulf of Guinea as reported by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
He said that reduced incidents which would be in the IMB’s second-quarter report were valuable feedback on the agency’s campaign for Nigeria’s delisting from countries under the war risk insurance burden
“Feedback on our campaign for Nigeria to be removed from countries paying war risk insurance premium on inbound cargoes has confirmed that the international shipping community is watching developments in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea with keen interest,” he was quoted as saying in a statement.
Mr Jamoh added that his organisation’s desire is to see the sustainability of the positive developments in recent times, which will ensure an extreme decline in piracy attacks in Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea.
He noted that since the deployment of the Deep Blue Project assets in February, there has been a steady decline in piracy attacks on Nigerian waters, on a monthly basis.
He also added that with adequate sensitisation of the international shipping community, the quest to be removed from nations considered to have dangerous waters will soon come to pass for the benefit of Nigerian shippers.
According to the report of the IMB, globally, there were 68 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships, which is the lowest recorded since 1994 down from 98 incidents last year.
The Gulf of Guinea region led globally with 32 per cent of all reported incidents and accounted for all 50 kidnapped crew and the single crew fatality recorded during the first half of 2021.
However, it was noted that the number of kidnappings in the region reached its lowest level since the half-year of 2019.
