Piracy moving to African west coast

While the number of pirate attacks has fallen sharply in the first half of 2012, there is a “worrying” increase of attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, according to the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) global piracy report. Somali-based piracy has dropped. Overall, 177 incidents were reported to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre (PRC) in the first six months of 2012, compared to 266 incidents for the corresponding period in 2011. Authorities continue to be concerned about Somali pirates and believe that the anti-piracy patrols should move further north to cover Kenyan waters.