Maritime security review 18 Agosto 2017
MSR Newsletter
The latest news for August 18th 2017
| Dear Readers, Another busy week on the water. We begin with another incident in the Red Sea, and the ongoing "he said/she said" by Houthi and Saudi coalition sources. This new attack by Houthi rebels underlines the ongoing danger to vessels in the region and the threat to commercial shipping of sea-borne attack. In Nigeria, there are calls for anti-piracy legislation and greater maritime security for the oil and gas sector. New laws are on the cards, but Nigeria tends to take its time with such matters. To illustrate the issue, the Nigerian Marine Police arrested a gang of pirates this week. Pity the relevant legislation isn't in place yet. In Europe, the ramifications of Libya's new Search and Rescue Exclusion Zone have meant that many NGO rescue missions have ceased operations off the country's coast. Reports suggest that at least two have been threatened by the Libyan Coast Guard, who have allegedly stated that they will fire on NGO ships. The end result, of course, is that more migrants will likely perish and EUNAVFOR Med will be called on to pick up the slack. In Southeast Asia, the US Navy has announced it plans to discipline a number of sailors in the wake of the USS Fitzgerald collision. And, in Abu Sayyaf news, the curfew in Sabah is to continue in order to protect maritime traffic from the kidnap and ransom terror gang. Regards, David Rider Editor |
