By Morkporkpor Anku/ Vera Amevedzi
Accra, April 4, GNA – Dr Jethro W. Brooks Jr., the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the Regional Maritime University (RMU), says Seafarers’ lives have been at risk from ever-increasing violent attacks as pirates and criminals continue to operate with increased impunity.
He said in essence vessels operating in the Gulf of Guinea continue to face serious and persistent threats from criminals both in anchorages and at open seas.
Dr Brook Jr. was speaking at the opening of the European Union/ ECOWAS Commission Support to the ECOWAS Integrated Maritime Strategy (SWAIMS) training in Maritime Affairs and Security.
The Regional Maritime operational training course was dubbed: “Maritime Affairs and Security Course.”
He said the course was aimed at building the capacity and competencies of Staff and personnel of maritime-focused agencies and institutions across the West African Region in combating crimes in the Gulf of Guinea.
He said the Gulf of Guinea recorded 132 incidents in 2020, which included armed robbery, kidnapping for ransom, violent armed boarding, and hijacking.
The Vice-Chancellor said according to the ECOWAS Multinational Maritime Coordination Zone F 2020 annual report, 136 crew were abducted from 27 kidnapping incidents for the year.
“This accounted for about 95 per cent of global kidnapping for ransom, comparatively, the Indian Ocean recorded only 36 incidents of which none were classified as piracy,” he added.
He said this made the Gulf of Guinea the most dangerous water for seafarers worldwide and the growing maritime insecurity had affected the legitimate uses of the sea, impaired the exploitation of the coastal resource, and continued to undermine regional security as well as the realisation of the blue economy potential of the Region.
Dr Brook Jr. said the objective of the SWAIMS was to improve regional governance and legal frameworks, prosecution and adjudication of maritime crimes, law enforcement operational capacities, regional training and responses to the threat and transnational cooperation.
He said in furtherance of the SWAIMS Project, the RMU was selected for the training of sea actors, and naval and law enforcement officers across West Africa.
Mr Augustine Addy-Lamptey, RMU SWAIMS Project Coordinator, said the six-week Course, which commenced on April 2, 2024, was expected to end on May 10, 2024, and the participants were drawn from agencies in the maritime security value chain from Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, and Togo.
He said it was important “we keep our eyes on the ball because while we achieve these positive developments in the well-known traditional crime areas new crime areas were escalating very fast.”
He said the Course package includes nine modules namely: introduction to Maritime Security Environment, Maritime Security Functional Areas, Legal Frameworks on Maritime Security, Blue Economy, Maritime Crisis Management and Fisheries Sector Governance and Security.
Others are Yaounde Architecture Information Sharing and Incidents Reporting, Managing Complexities in Maritime Safety and Security and Maritime Safety and Practice.
GNA