In early December, the Nave Constellation supertanker was hijacked. Pirates boarded the fully loaded ship, stole its oil cargo, and kidnapped 19 members of its crew about 77 nautical miles from Bonny Island, a loading terminal in Rivers State, Nigeria.
While attacks on supertankers are rare, piracy is so common in the Gulf of Guinea that, in its July report, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) described the passage as "one of the most dangerous shipping routes in the world" and a "world piracy hotspot."
Yet, because it is such a crucial part of the regional economy, ships still sail its waters and assume the increasingly higher costs that come with the threat of maritime piracy.
Ninety percent of trade to West Africa comes by sea, according to the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so maritime security is a crucial factor in the region's economy. IMB records show pirates kidnapped 27 crew members in the first half of 2019 alone, and one in four global piracy incidents in 2018 happened within Nigeria's territorial waters, according to international insurance carrier Allianz Global.
Ideal Conditions for Pirates
The Gulf of Guinea covers 11,000 km2 and stretches from Angola to Senegal. It is one of the world's most important shipping routes for both oil exports from the Niger Delta and consumer goods to and from Central and West Africa, but it is not very well guarded, a combination that creates ideal conditions for piracy.
"Congestion at Lagos ports and the lack of other options means that ships are spending a long time queuing, meaning there are a large amount of ships in a relatively small area to target," said Chidi Nwaonu of UK-based security firm, Peccavi Consulting. "Due to that and a lack of naval presence, there is the motive of high financial reward and comparatively low risk of detection or capture."
In March, 33 countries came together to carry out maritime security training in the Gulf, and some attendees noted the need for more funding, cooperation, and infrastructure.
Under Nigeria's federal system, state governments only have a rudimentary capacity to address piracy and must depend on the federal government to police the waters. "Nigeria doesn't have a plan to tackle this menace yet," Cheta Nwanze, head of research at Lagos-based security and political analysis firm SBM Intelligence, told Al Jazeera.
Nwaonu concurred. "Nigeria's navy is the most powerful in the GoG (Gulf of Guinea), but, compared to the army and air force, it has been underfunded and neglected."
That is proving costly for firms. Industry experts say kidnappings at sea have become so common they have increased the cost of operations. Businesses have to factor in the costs of independent security contractors, extra insurance, and, sometimes, ransom money.
All of it adds up. The economic cost of piracy in West Africa through 2017 was $818.1 million, up from $793.7 million the year before. Nearly a quarter of that $818.1 million was spent contracting maritime security, according to the nonprofit Oceans Beyond Piracy's 2017 State of Maritime Piracy report.