Piracy: Stakeholders in Oil & Gas, shipping industries meet in London for talks

Stakeholders in world’s Oil & Gas and Shipping community have scheduled a meeting in London next month to proffer solution to the menace of pirate attacks on vessels and

the assets of Oil companies particularly in the West African sub-region.
The conference which is bringing together senior security representatives from government, military, global shipping companies and oil and gas operators and all other security experts is meant to protect operators from maritime crime and will also reveal the strategies being deployed to combat sea robbery at the local and regional levels.
In a statement, the senior project manager overseeing the conference Mr Dave Iheanyi Njoku of Hanson Wade said that the meeting will address the challenges vessels and operators face in the Gulf of Guinea.
“We shall be looking at how to minimize the impact of maritime crime on trade and commerce in West Africa, strengthen maritime security on both local and regional levels, understanding the impact of wider maritime crimes such as drugs, arms, people smuggling and how we can protect ourselves against these menace”.
Njoku stated that with large proportion of the world’s Oil and Gas resources based in the West African sub-region, the need to secure these facilities and make them safe cannot be over emphasized.
The conference which is billed to have Nigeria’s high Commissioner to Britain Ambassador Dozie Nwana as keynote speaker, Jimi Osimowo from the Nigerian Navy, Chris Holtby from the Foreign & Commonwealth Office, Phillip J. Heyl from the U.S. Africa Command, Col Jamil Tahir from the Nigerian Ports Authority, Pierre St Hilaire from Maritime Piracy Task Force (MPTF), INTERPOL and Dennis Amachree from Addax Petroleum Development (Nigeria) Ltd shall also highlight the latest methods being employed by pirates to attack vessels on the West coast.
His words “The issue of piracy is a very negative phenomenon that is costing world trade so much loses both human and material and some thing urgently must be done before the current situation gets worse. Pirate attacks has become an international criminal syndicate that needs to be broken.
The Nigerian Pirate are emulating the Somali model and the government response is needed. The meeting will provide participants with latest knowledge of all the pertinent legal issues arising from maritime crime.
We shall also be revealing innovative strategies being rolled out at the local and regional level to combat maritime crime. With the quality of leadership being provided by the International Maritime Organisation, (IMO) a well coordinated fight against these criminals will lead to a more secured and safer waters for global trade to strive.
We look forward to seeing all the relevant stakeholders at the meeting and learn a few lessons from their experiences to make our operation secured and safe from the menace of pirates”
Source: Vanguard