person:pottengal mukundan

Violent Pirate Attacks Increase in Gulf of Guinea Despite Global Downturn, IMB Says - gCaptain
▻https://gcaptain.com/violent-pirate-attacks-increase-in-gulf-of-guinea-despite-global-downturn-

While piracy on the high seas continues to fall across most of the globe, International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Piracy Reporting Center is highlight growing threat of violent attacks in the Gulf of Guinea off the west coast of Africa, where 44 seafarers have been captured so far this year.

Worldwide, just 37 piracy and armed robbery incidents were recorder in the three months of 2016, down from 54 in the same period last year, the IMB said in it’s first quarter report. Three vessels were hijacked and 29 boarded, with 26 crew kidnapped for ransom and a further 28 held hostage.

The Gulf of Guinea dominates world piracy in terms of numbers and severity, with the waters off Nigeria and Ivory Coast accounting for two of the three hijackings recorded globally, and all 28 hostages. From January to March, the region saw 16 crew kidnapped from chemical and product tankers in four separate incidents. While ten attacks were reported off Nigeria alone, all involving guns.

“Reports in the last quarter indicate unacceptable violence against ships and crews in the Gulf of Guinea, particularly around Nigeria. The current increase in kidnappings is a cause for great concern,” said Pottengal Mukundan, Director of IMB, who has monitored world piracy since 1991.

#piraterie #Golfe_de_Guinée

Arrests and prosecutions – a positive response to piracy | 2015 | Articles | News and Media | ICC - International Chamber of Commerce

▻http://www.iccwbo.org/News/Articles/2015/Arrests-and-prosecutions-%E2%80%93-a-positive-response-to-piracy

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Despite an overall global reduction in serious piracy attacks this year, the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre (IMB PRC) cautions against complacency in its 2015 report for the year to 30 September.
Southeast Asia cracks down
Number of incidents reported to IMB, Q3 2015

In Southeast Asia, a piracy crackdown appears to be bearing fruit, with only two hijackings reported in the third quarter of the year. Indonesian and Malaysian authorities have also arrested and in some cases prosecuted, members of product tanker hijacking gangs, notably those behind the MT Sun Birdie and MT Orkim Harmony attacks.

“The robust actions taken particularly by the Indonesian and Malaysian authorities - including the arrest of one the alleged masterminds - is precisely the type of deterrent required,” said IMB Director Pottengal Mukundan.

The two hijackings, on a small product tanker in the Straits of Malacca and a fishing vessel 40-miles west of Pulau Langkawi, were among 47 incidents the IMB PRC recorded globally between July and September.

To date 190 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships have been officially counted this year, the greatest number in Indonesia, which tallied 86 mainly low-level incidents, followed by Vietnam with 19 low-level reports.

#piraterie_maritime

Pirates

▻http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/pirates.htm

The number of pirate attacks worldwide fell in the first half of 2013. However, maritime officials warned that the waters off West Africa were growing more dangerous. International Maritime Bureau Director Pottengal Mukundan highlighted the findings of the latest piracy report. “We have had 138 incidents compared to 177 incidents for the same period in 2012.

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This is largely because of the reduction in the attacks off the Horn of Africa, which accounted previously for around 50 percent of the worldwide attacks,” he said. The reduction is due to a number of reasons, including the international effort that’s been underway off the Horn of Africa. That’s dealt a major blow to Somali pirates.

#piraterie_maritime