Seventy-two attacks on ships in the Gulf of Guinea were reported last year, against 28 recorded in 2014
The scale of the problem forced shippers and foreign governments to take drastic action. Somalia’s government barely controlled its capital and was unable to help, so international navies began patrolling its waters. Western navies began doing so in 2009. Other countries, including India, China, Russia and Iran, soon joined in. Some countries began prosecuting Somali pirates arrested by their navies. Firms, often run by ex-soldiers, sprang up to meet the demand for armed guards.
Unlike the Somalis, west African pirates never keep the vessels, as they have nowhere to hide them. Instead, armed with-47s and knives, they storm a ship, round up some of the crew and return to land, where they hide their hostages. Last year, says Mr Williams, they kidnapped 193 people. The pirates have struck across the region, but are primarily a Nigerian problem. They mostly operate out of the labyrinthine waterways in the Niger delta, near which most of west Africa’s attacks occur.
Shipping firms complain that the Nigerian government is failing to keep its waters safe. Its navy often performs admirably when it intercepts pirate attacks. But it is ill-equipped and spread too thin to prevent them. Some speculate that the pirates are in cahoots with military officials, citing incidents in which pirates flee before the navy arrives or know exactly how many crew members are aboard a ship they attack. Nigeria has yet to make piracy a specific criminal offence.
Instead, he argues, firms themselves should do more to protect their crews. International shipping organisations have drawn up recommendations, based on what worked in Somalia. They include wrapping the deck in razor wire and building a “citadel” on board where the crew can barricade themselves and call for help. Among the ships docked in Lagos many display obviously shoddy security—large gaps in the razor wire, for example, rendering it useless.
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