The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has expressed its concern over ongoing piracy attacks in the Gulf of Guinea. This comes after the kidnapping of six crew members from the Monjasa Reformer on March 25, and reports of an ongoing incident involving a tanker in the Gulf of Guinea. It is believed that the Singapore-f lagged tanker, Success 9, was boarded by pirates off the Ivory Coast in early April.While the IMO and other maritime organisations have recognised that piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has been declining, the latest spate of attacks has sparked serious concern. For several years, the Gulf of Guinea, a crucial maritime route that borders hydrocarbon-rich countries and spans 5 700km from Senegal to Angola, has been notorious for its high piracy rates. Much progress has been made since 2021 in the collective efforts of the IMO and several other maritime organisations, including the Group of Friends of the Gulf of Guinea (G7 ++ FoGG) to combat the threat of piracy, resulting in a reduction in the number of pirate attacks.
