Mexico's Oil Industry Is Facing Increasing Threats From Pirates

Members of the army transport fuel seized from huachicoleros in Juarez. Photo: Ariel Ojeda/AP

OilPrice.com: Pirates Threaten Oil Operations In Gulf Of Mexico

* The U.S. State Department warns of increased pirate activity in the southern Gulf of Mexico.
* According to a report from January 2019, there was a 310-percent increase in pirate activity in the southern Gulf of Mexico over the three years to end-2018.

There is increased threat of piracy in the southern Gulf of Mexico, with oil platforms and other installations a potential target, the U.S. government has warned.

“Armed criminal groups have been known to target and rob commercial vessels, oil platforms, and offshore supply vessels in the Bay of Campeche area in the southern Gulf of Mexico,” the State Department said in an updated travel advisory as quoted by Reuters.

There has been pirate activity in the Bay of Campeche for years, with the criminals posing as fishermen and attempting to board offshore platforms and vessels in the Gulf, according to reports in Mexican media. They were a headache for Mexico’s Pemex as they targeted its platforms, on several occasions succeeding in stealing things like pipes, electrical wiring, copper, and various equipment, as well as cash.

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WNU Editor: Oil/gas piracy in Mexico has been around for a long time .... Blood and Oil: Mexico's Drug Cartels And The Gasoline Industry (Seth Harp, Rolling Stone).

UK-Flagged Chemical Tanker 'Repulses Pirate Attack' In The Gulf Of Aden

Al Jazeera: UK-flagged tanker 'repulses pirate attack' in Gulf of Aden

Manager of chemical tanker Stolt Apal says armed guard opens fire at attackers off the coast of Yemen.

Armed pirates attacked a British-flagged chemical tanker in the Gulf of Aden on Sunday but were repulsed, the ship's manager Stolt Tankers has said.

The pirates approached the Stolt Apal in two speedboats some 75 nautical miles (139km) off Yemen, it said, in one of the most important trade routes for oil heading from the Middle East to Europe.

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More News On Today's Pirate Attack Against A UK-Flagged Chemical Tanker In The Gulf Of Aden

Pirates attack tanker off Yemen coast, causing minor damage -- AP
Pirates attack UK-flagged oil tanker with gunfire -- SKY News
Pirates attack tanker Stolt Apal in Gulf of Aden, near Yemen -- Jerusalem Post/Reuters
Pirates Attack Tanker Stolt Apal Off Yemen, Ship's Manager Says -- New York Times
Pirates fire at tanker off Yemen, shipping company says -- FOX News
Pirates Attacked Stolt Apal Oil Tanker Sailing Under UK Flag off Yemen on Sunday - Ship's Manager -- Sputnik

Nigerian Pirates Hijack A Fully Loaded Supertanker

Pirates off the coast of Nigeria hijacked a Navios-owned vessel late Tuesday. (sec.gov)

Reuters: Pirates kidnap 19 crew members from Greek tanker off Nigeria

ATHENS (Reuters) - Pirates have kidnapped 19 crew members from a crude oil tanker off Nigeria in an area where acts of piracy are on the rise, an official with the ship’s operator said on Thursday.

The loaded vessel, the Nave Constellation, was attacked 77 nautical miles off Bonny Island on Tuesday and 18 Indians and one Turk from the crew were seized, the official said.

Seven other crew members remain on board the vessel. Neither the vessel nor the cargo were damaged, the official said.

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More News On Nigerian Pirates Hijacking A Fully Loaded Supertanker

Pirates hijack supertanker off Nigeria, kidnap 19 crew members, report says -- FOX News
Pirates attack ship off Nigeria, take 19 of crew hostage -- Washington Post
Pirates Board a Supertanker Off Nigeria, Kidnap 19 Crew Members -- Bloomberg
Pirates Hijack Fully Loaded Supertanker Off Nigeria -- OilPrice.com/Zero Hedge

Pirates Have Returned To The Caribbean

A fisherman rides in a boat where some have been either robbed and/or killed by Venezuelan pirates.

Photo: Jahi Chikwendiu/Washington Post

SCMP/Washington Post: As Venezuela disintegrates, a new breed of pirates terrorises the Caribbean

‘It’s criminal chaos, a free-for-all, along the Venezuelan coast’.

In the flickers of sunlight off the cobalt blue of the Caribbean Sea, the vessel appeared as a cut on the horizon. It sailed closer. But the crew of the Asheena took no heed.

“We be lookin’ for our red fish as normal, thinkin’ they be fishin’, too,” said Jimmy Lalla, 36, part of the crew that had dropped lines in Trinidadian waters last April a few miles off the lawless Venezuelan coast.

The other vessel kept approaching. “They be needin’ help?” Lalla recalled wondering as it pulled aside their 8-metre pirogue. A short, sinewy man jumped on board, shouting in Spanish and waving a pistol.

“Then we knowin’,” Lalla said. “They be pirates.”

Centuries after Blackbeard’s cannons fell silent and the Jolly Roger came down from rum ports across the Caribbean, the region is confronting a new and less romanticised era of pirates.

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WNU Editor: Here is an NBC report two years ago .... Venezuela: Pirates Terrorizing Fishermen as Industry Crumbles (NBC).

Pirates Lose Control Of An Indian Oil Tanker Off The Coast Of Western Africa

We are delighted to report that the MT Marine Express, which was hijacked by pirates on Feb 1, is now back under the command of the captain & crew since ~04:00 SG time today. All crew members are reported to be safe & well & the cargo intact. We thank you all for your well wishes

— Anglo-Eastern (@angloeasterngrp) February 6, 2018

FOX News: Pirates lose control of Indian oil tanker as crew regains command

The crew of an Indian-owned oil tanker that vanished Thursday off the coast of the West African country of Benin has regained control of the ship after it was hijacked by pirates, the vessel's management company said Tuesday.

Anglo-Eastern Ship Management said the Marine Express tanker with 22 Indian nationals on board "was hijacked by pirates on Feb 1," but is now back under command of the captain and crew.

"All crew members are reported to be safe & well & the cargo intact. We thank you all for your well wishes," the company tweeted.

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WNU Editor: Some good news this morning.

Oil Is Now So Cheap That Even The Pirates Are No Longer Interested In Stealing It

A huge target. (Reuters/Tim Chong)

Cassie Werber, Quartz: Oil is now so cheap even pirates aren’t stealing it any more

Stealing the oil from a ship is no mean feat.

Oil tankers are enormous, and ships that carry expensive cargo are designed to be difficult to board. Stealing can mean hijacking the original tanker, disabling its tracking devices, taking it to a location where it can’t be spotted, and transferring thousands of heavy barrels to a different vessel that can then be sailed away. Stealing crude also means finding a buyer for it, or else getting involved in the messy and dangerous business of illegal refining.

Over the past six months, the price of oil has plunged due to a global oversupply. And for some pirates, it’s just not worth stealing it any more.

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Update: I guess for these pirates it is now time to find another line of work.

Piracy Drops Worldwide

The Chinese Navy frigate Huangshan leaves Valletta's Grand Harbour March 30, 2013, after concluding an anti-piracy mission in the Gulf of Aden, providing security escort to civilian and commercial vessels.

Piracy Drops Worldwide, Especially In Somalia -- Voice of America

The number of pirate attacks is down worldwide, especially off Somalia, where pirates once hijacked dozens of ships each year, according to a new report.

The International Maritime Bureau says there were 66 reported pirate incidents in the first quarter of 2013; that's a drop of 55 percent compared to a year earlier.

According to the report, Somali pirates carried out only five reported attacks during the quarter and just one hijacking. In that case, naval forces freed the ship's crew before the vessel reached Somalia.

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Update #1: World sea piracy falls 35 percent in first quarter 2013; spotlight on Gulf of Guinea -- FOX News/AP
Update #2: Sea piracy attacks decline in first quarter -- New Europe
Update #3: Report shifts piracy concerns to west African coast -- UPI

My Comment: The ICIS press release is here.

Aboard The RFA Fort Victoria In Pirate Infested Waters

Hunting Pirates On Board The RFA Fort Victoria -- The Telegraph

Holly Watt reports from the RFA Fort Victoria in the Indian Ocean as a raid by the Royal Navy on a fishing boat leads to the arrest of 14 suspected pirates.

The men lounging on the rusty fishing boat had spent the morning making a great show of casually ignoring the menacing warships tailing them from less than a mile away.

Despite flares and warning machine-gun fire launched from a Royal Navy Lynx helicopter overhead, the men – all Somali, all suspected of being pirates – pottered about, hung out laundry or dozed on deck in the morning sun.

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My Comment: I would publicize more of these successful anti-piracy operations. Somali pirates .... and those who want to be Somali pirates .... must learn that there are no free rides in terrorizing ships on the high seas.

Somali Piracy Costs The Global Economy $12 billion

A pirate at the coastline of Somalia. Political instability and civil strife in the country have spurred piracy in the Indian Ocean into a global problem. AFP

Study Finds Somali Piracy Could Cost Global Economy $12 Billion -- Business Daily

Twenty years ago, when the government of Somalia collapsed, few imagined that the country’s ongoing state of lawlessness would eventually spawn piracy on such a scale that the security of the western Indian Ocean region could be threatened.

At first, many assumed that pirate attacks on passing ships could be quickly stifled. But the problem has grown into a global malady that so far has warranted seven United Nations resolutions, one of which authorised “all necessary means to repress piracy and armed robbery at sea”.

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My Comment: A staggering problem that shows no sign of decreasing. If anything .... Somali piracy is getting worse.

Not All Pirates Are Bad

Max Hardberger in Miragoâne, the Haitian port where he staged his most daring ship repossession, stealing a 10,000-ton freighter from under the noses of a rioting mob Photo: Swoan Parker

Pirate Hunter Guns For Somali Raiders -- The Telegraph

Max Hardberger, a maritime repo man who recovers stolen ships from lawless Caribbean ports, has set his sights on the notorious Somali pirates.

'I don’t know why I like Haiti so much,’ Max Hardberger says, as we battle and swerve through the choking dust and chaos of Port-au-Prince traffic.

'The Haitian people are wonderful, sure, but sometimes they do bad things, especially when they get in mobs, and the country is obviously frustrating. One thing I do like is that it’s lawless here, which makes it much easier for me to operate.’

Hardberger is a 62-year-old adventurer from Louisiana who specialises in stealing back ships that have been fraudulently seized in corrupt ports, mostly in Latin America and the Caribbean.

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My Comment: This is a fascinating and enjoyable read. I wish him the best in Somalia.

Worldwide Piracy At An All-Time High

Maritime piracy may be at an all-time high, with 142 attacks reported worldwide in the first three months of 2011. CNN

Report: Piracy At A Record High -- CNN

London (CNN) -- Piracy, mostly in the dangerous waters near Somalia, has surged this year and may be at an all-time high, according to a new report Thursday.

There have been 142 pirate attacks worldwide in the first three months of this year, according to the report from the International Chamber of Commerce's International Maritime Bureau.

And 97 of the attacks came off the coast of Somalia, the organization said.

Read more ....

More News On Worldwide Piracy

Piracy at an all time high in 2011 first-quarter - watchdog -- Reuters
World sea attacks surge in first quarter to 142 cases as Somali pirates become more violent -- Canadian Press/AP
World piracy attacks at all-time high -- M&C
Worldwide piracy attacks at record high -- Herald Sun
Attacks off the Somali coast drive piracy to record high, reports IMB -- The Financial
Piracy at all time high, says maritime watchdog --DNA

Global Piracy Costs Billions

Several of the 19 captured Somali pirates, captured by the french navy on January 4, 2009. the French naval vessel Jean de Vienne, patrolling in the seas off Somalia as part of a European Union anti-piracy force, came to the rescue of two cargo ships in the Gulf of Aden. Photo from Chronogram Magazine

Global Piracy Costs Billions, Says Study -- BBC

Maritime piracy costs the global economy between $7bn (£4.4bn) and $12bn (£7.6bn) a year, a study says.

The report, compiled by US think-tank One Earth Future, calculated the amount from the costs of ransom, security equipment and the impact on trade.

The majority of costs came from piracy off Somalia, it says.

Although the costs are said to be difficult to assess, one researcher estimated they had increased roughly five-fold since 2005.

Despite an international effort to patrol waters, the number of reported incidents of piracy has risen over recent years, and the areas in which they operate has grown.

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More News On The Cost Of Global Piracy

Study: Piracy Costs World Up to $12 Billion Annually -- Voice of America
Piracy costs global economy $7-12 bln a year: study -- Reuters
Piracy costs world economy up to $12 billion a year -- Sify News
Sea Piracy Costing Global Economy Billions: Report -- RTT News

An Examination On The Ruthless Calculus Behind A New Age Of Piracy

The 290-foot, three-masted cruise ship Le Ponant was targeted last year by Somali pirates, who held hostage its crew of 30—a harbinger of attacks to come. By Thierry Lacour/Gamma/Eyedea/Zuma Press.

The Pirate Latitudes -- Vanity Fair

When the French luxury cruise ship Le Ponant was captured by a raggedy, hopped-up band of Somali pirates last spring, in the Gulf of Aden, it looked as if the bandits had bitten off more than they could chew. But after a week-long standoff, they got what they had come for—a $2.15 million ransom. Describing the terrifying attack, the ordeal of the ship’s epicurean crew, and the tense negotiations, the author examines the ruthless calculus behind a new age of piracy.

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My Comment: A sobering view on how piracy on the high seas has evolved to what it is today. Read it all.

Piracy Is Now Spreading To The West Coast Of Africa

Piracy attacks since the beginning of the year. (Photo from Ministry of Jesus Benin)

Pirates Take New Territory: West African Gulf Of Guinea -- Christian Science Monitor

Pirates are making headway off the West African coast – the Gulf of Guinea is second only to Somalia in terms of pirate attacks.

It was Nov. 24, and the German-owned oil tanker MT Cancale Star was plying the blue ocean water 18 miles from shore when the crew spotted a speedboat full of pirates, approaching fast.

If this sounds like just another day in Somalia, think again. The MT Cancale Star was off the coast of the West African country of Benin, and the pirates were Nigerian.

The Gulf of Guinea is second only to Somalia in terms of such attacks, with some 32 pirate strikes reported in the first nine months of 2009.

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My Comment: The focus has been on the piracy off the coast of Somalia and in the Indian Ocean, and how to stem the attacks. But criminal gangs across Africa are now noting the lucrative benefits of piracy, and the inability of the international community to stop and/or prosecute this criminal enterprise.

My prediction .... piracy has the potential of becoming a continent wide problem, with consequences that are going to impact international trade and commerce.

The Weak Link in Anti-Piracy Efforts

From New Wars:

Last week a USN helicopter was fired on by a Somali pirate from a Taiwanese freighter. They just keep getting bolder, and getting away with it, according to JE Dyer at Commentary Magazine:

There was no decision point for returning fire from the Navy helicopter, because the crewmen were not certain they had been fired on until they evaluated the recording from their infrared camera after the mission. The pirates used small arms (rifles), which give off little muzzle flash and do not have the range to hit the helicopter at the altitude it would maintain for a surveillance mission. A shoulder-fired missile would be immediately detectable and draw an immediate response from the Navy. But small-arms fire, in these circumstances, is not a valid pretext for any specific critique of either our operational policies or our military rules of engagement.

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My Comment: When 9/11 occurred, I called my brother in San Francisco to tell him what had happened. It was 6:30 AM his time, 9:30 AM my time. He was half asleep when he picked up the phone ... but he woke up immediately when the first thing that I told him was that the U.S. was now at war.

I expected worse.

10 days later I was in New York City to bring back home an ex-girlfriend who was completely shaken by that event. She was a few blocks away when the second plane hit .... and a few blocks further when the first tower fell down.

She now lives in Northern Quebec .... cities scare her.

Seeing the despair in New York City made me expect a war .... a war that would involve the largest mobilization of people since the Second World War. I expected the governments of Iran, Iraq, Libya, Syria, Afghanistan .... and many others gone or overthrown within two or three years.

I expected a new world.

I was wrong.

What we now have is a return to an older world of continuous war, conflict, tribal and religious hatreds .... and I do not see the light at the end of the tunnel.

We have lost our will to fight evil and the monsters that it produces. As a result, the conflicts get bigger and the costs rise.

The everyday conflict with Somali pirates is a symbol to me of what is wrong.

The USA has a trillion dollar navy, with an aircraft carrier having more firepower than what was used in the Second World War. But a few poor pirates with rusty AK-47s and RPGs have the will to stand up to the U.S. Navy and .... win.

We have made war distant and clean .... but while we believe that far away conflicts do not affect us directly, the truth is that if we do not confront it now, it eventually will.

West Weighs Arming Ships To Counter Naval Piracy

From AP:

STANBUL — Challenging a global aversion to guns aboard ships, France has put troops on tuna boats in the Indian Ocean, and Belgium is offering military units to its merchant vessels off the Horn of Africa. Now, U.S. lawmakers are weighing similar action to fight piracy.

Opponents fear such moves will escalate the violence and raise a minefield of legal issues.

In June, the U.S. House of Representatives passed an amendment that would require the Department of Defense to put armed teams on U.S.-flagged ships passing through high-risk waters, specifically around the Horn of Africa where Somali pirates have become a scourge of world shipping.

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My Comment: I doubt that arming ships will solve the problem of naval piracy .... but it is a start.

Pirate Attacks Double World-Wide in 2009

This handout photo released by the French Ministry of Defence shows French soldiers arresting presumed Somalian pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Photo: AFP

From The Wall Street Journal:

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- Pirate attacks world-wide more than doubled in the first half of 2009 amid a surge of raids on vessels in the Gulf of Aden and the east coast of Somalia, an international maritime watchdog said Wednesday.

The number of attacks rose to 240 between January and June, up from 114 incidents in the same period a year earlier, according to a report released by the International Maritime Bureau's piracy-reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

Ships were boarded in 78 cases and 31 vessels were hijacked, with 561 crew taken hostage, 19 injured and six killed, the bureau said in its quarterly report. The attackers were heavily armed with guns or knives in most of the cases, it said.

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My Comment: With the rewards being great, and the risks being low, this terrorism on the high seas will continue.

The only way that piracy can be stopped is if the pirate's safe havens are no longer safe. But with a lack of will from the major powers to attack safe havens in Somalia (for example), this problem can then never go away.

The other option is arming ships with guards and weapons. While there are some international conventions on not supporting this, I predict that within the next year or two .... as piracy continues to increase and become more deadlier .... this option is going to be adopted by most if not all of the major sea faring nations.

Global Piracy: The Hidden Side

From Yahoo News/AP:

ISTANBUL – While Somali pirates top headlines with brazen ship hijackings for ransom, many smaller-scale attacks in the world's oceans — maritime muggings, essentially — go unreported, depriving mariners of information about possible threats to their safety and vessels.

Industry analysts say some owners and masters of commercial boats prefer not to report relatively small losses from piracy, or attempted boardings, because they worry about clean records, costly delays in the event of an investigation in the nearest port, jittery clients who might take business elsewhere, and the likelihood of higher insurance rates if they log an attack with authorities.

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My Comment: In the past .... pirates who were caught while conducting piracy walked the plank into the ocean .... which in the past was also a very effective method to deter piracy.

Today .... our lawyers control the agenda and in the case of piracy .... law enforcement.

No surprise .... naval piracy is getting worse.

Arab States Propose Red Sea Navy Force To Tackle Piracy Problem

From Daily Star:

RIYADH: Arab states of the Gulf and Red Sea said on Monday that they are planning a joint anti-piracy force, insisting defense of the crucial Red Sea waterway was the "primary responsibility" of littoral states. Saying it was necessary to prevent the spread of piracy to the Red Sea or the Gulf, 11 regional states agreed on an all-Arab Navy Task Force, to be initially led by Saudi, the official Saudi Press Agency reported.

The delegates to the conference in the Saudi capital stressed the "importance of the exclusion of the Red Sea from any international arrangements, especially the fight against sea piracy."

Royal Saudi Navy commander Lieutenant General Prince Fahd bin Abdullah told journalists: "This subject is now under negotiation and we are hoping to reach an agreement to form this force."

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My Comment: If this can be pulled off, it will be a first for Arab cooperation.

Using Satellites To Combat Naval Piracy

Close Encounters of the Pirate Kind -- Defense Tech

This article first appeared in Aviation Week & Space Technology.

The U.S. is exploring the use of commercial satellites to enhance ship identification and communication for the battle against piracy.

Long before the U.S.-flagged container ship Maersk Alabama was attacked by Somali pirates this month, a sister vessel, the Maersk Iowa, was plying the sea lanes between the U.S. East Coast and the Indian Ocean, testing a device that combines the information obtained from shipboard radar and identification transponders to give authorities a better overview of who is on the water and what they are up to.

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