LAGOS, April 12 (Xinhua) -- A global maritime organization on Tuesday said seven incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery were recorded in the first quarter of 2022 in the Gulf of Guinea.
That was a sharp drop from 16 in the same period of 2021, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said in its quarterly piracy report on Tuesday.
The maritime agency said there had been no reported crew kidnappings within the Gulf of Guinea waters in the first quarter of this year, compared to 40 crew kidnappings in the same period in 2021.
The agency attributed the drop in piracy incidents to the increased presence of international naval vessels and cooperation between regional authorities.
The IMB urges the coastal response agencies and independent international navies to continue their efforts to ensure piracy is permanently addressed in these highly risky waters.
"The threat to innocent seafarers remains and is best exemplified by a recent attack where a Panamax-sized bulk carrier was boarded by pirates 260 NM off the coast of Ghana on April 3. This illustrates that despite a decrease in reported incidents, the threat of the Gulf of Guinea piracy and crew kidnappings remains," said Michael Howlett, director of IMB, in the report.
The Gulf of Guinea remains the world's main piracy hotspot, said the report, urging crews and vessels plying these waters to be cautious as the perpetrators remain violent and the risk to crews remains high. ■