The captain and chief engineer of a cargo ship were tragically killed during a pirate raid on the vessel off the Nigerian coast, early last week.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reporting centre, pirates, who are believed to be Nigerian pirates, indiscrimately sprayed the vessel with bullets and two members of the crew were fatally wounded as a result. This attack occurred despite the fact that pirate attacks on the Horn of Africa dropped from 45 in 2010 to 24 in 2011. However international cargo shippers are very concerned by the new levels of violence being employed by various pirate groups.

To…

The southern red sea is on high alert due a spate of attacks orchestrated by groups of pirates. In recent days a vessel came under attack by three groups of pirate skiffs as they attempted to commandeer the vessel. On Board security managed to avert the attacks which occurred 20 nautical miles North East of Eritrea.