There seems to be no resolution in sight to the piracy problem that has plagued the Gulf of Guinea in recent times, with yet another ship attack reported on the West African coastline over the weekend.
According to marine awareness group MDAT-GoG, the Panamax container ship Irenes Resolve came under attack 119 nautical miles from Nigeria after departing from the Kribi Deep Sea Port Container Terminal in Cameroon earlier in the day.
The attackers fired shots at the vessel, demanding that it drop anchor.
However, they backed off when the container ship’s captain refused and claimed a security team was on board.
This was not an isolated incident for the region though. In the past week there were three more incidents reported on the stretch between Benin and Angola, with nine crew members kidnapped during one of the attacks.
Calls have since been made to international shipping bodies to increase security and patrols for ships travelling through the Gulf. – Bjorn Vorster
