"West Africa Pirate Alert... 96% of Pirate Kidnappings Last Year"

Last Year, Global Pirate Incidents Increased by 20%... Kidnapping Victims Concentrated in West African Waters

[Sejong=Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] It has been revealed that 96% of all kidnapping incidents last year occurred in the West African waters, calling for special caution.

The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries announced the '2020 Piracy Incident Trends' on the 4th, reporting that the number of piracy incidents worldwide last year increased by 20.4% compared to the previous year (162 cases), reaching 195 cases. The number of kidnapped crew members was 135, the highest in the past five years.

The West African waters, where Korean nationals aboard foreign fishing vessels were consecutively kidnapped last year, are considered the most dangerous waters in the world. Of the kidnapped crew members last year, 130, accounting for 96.3%, were kidnapped in this area, and all three ship hijacking incidents occurred in these waters. The number of kidnapped crew members in West Africa has steadily increased from 62 in 2016, 65 in 2017, 78 in 2018, 121 in 2019, to 130 in 2020.

In particular, the waters near Nigeria have seen the highest number of piracy incidents and casualties over the past five years. The Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries emphasized that Korean shipping companies and crew passing through the high-risk West African waters (including areas near Nigeria, Benin, Togo, and Cameroon) must strictly adhere to government-established piracy prevention navigation guidelines, such as restrictions on entering high-risk waters.

As livelihood-based maritime robberies have increased in the Singapore Strait, 76 piracy incidents occurred in Asian waters in 2020, a 22.6% increase compared to the previous year. On the other hand, in the Somali waters, where the Cheonghae Unit and allied navies operate and armed maritime special security personnel are onboard, no piracy incidents occurred in both 2019 and 2020.

Hwang Jongwoo, Director of the Maritime Safety Bureau at the Ministry of Oceans and Fisheries, stated, "Piracy activities have increased due to the spread of COVID-19, and especially in the West African waters, violent crimes such as crew kidnappings are occurring." He urged, "More than ever, the attention and efforts of our shipping companies and crew are necessary to prevent piracy damage." He added, "The government will also do its best to protect our shipping companies and citizens by strengthening ship monitoring and sharing piracy-related information regularly."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.