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☆ Somali pirates are back on the attack at a level not seen in years, adding to global shipping threats
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-06 | by ( Lori Ann Larocco | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Piracy off the coast of Somalia had been on the decline in recent years after peaking in 2011 when Somali pirates launched 212 attacks. A 2013 World Bank study, still widelt cited today, estimated that piracy cost the global economy around $18 billion annually. The pirates have also been attacking fishing vessels, mostly Iranian, as well as many other small boats such as skiffs. Ocean piracy is rising across the worldData from 2023 shows that by many key measures, piracy is on the rise in key global shipping lanes. There were 120 incidents of maritime piracy and armed robbery against ships reported in 2023, compared to 115 in 2022, according to the annual Piracy and Armed Robbery Report of the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB).

Persons: Abuukar Mohamed Muhidin, Dan Mueller Organizations: Puntland Maritime Police Forces, Getty Images, Royal United Services Institute, United Nations Security Council, European Union Naval Force, UNSC, Eastern, Chamber of Shipping, ICC International Maritime Bureau, International Maritime Organization, CNBC Locations: PUNTLAND, SOMALIA, Puntland, Somalia, Anadolu, Africa, Horn of Africa, U.S, Eastern Region, Djibouti

NAIROBI, Kenya (AP) — Somalia’s maritime police force on Thursday intensified patrols in the Red Sea following a failed pirate hijacking of a ship in the Gulf of Aden earlier this week. That is the first in many years and has led the Somali government to appeal for International support to deter a resurgence of piracy in the Horn of Africa. No assistance from the African Union Mission in Somalia, the European Union or any international assistance. Somalia had for years been blighted by piracy, with the peak being 2011, when the U.N. says more than 160 attacks were recorded off the Somali coast. The incidents have declined drastically since then, however, largely due to the presence of American and allied navies in international waters.

Persons: Abdullahi Mohamed Ahmed, Mason, ” Mohamed Organizations: Associated Press, U.S, Liberian, Zodiac Maritime, American, Pentagon, Somali, African, Mission, European Union Locations: NAIROBI, Kenya, Gulf, Aden, semiautonomous, Puntland, Shabab, Yemen U.S, of Eden, Israel, Somali, Horn of Africa, Puntland State, Somalia

☆ Hundreds of Portuguese police raid farms in human trafficking crackdown
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Portuguese maritime police at one of two sites where hundreds of human trafficking victims, mostly migrants from Southeast Asia, were found near Portugal's capital Lisbon, in Samouco, Portugal, June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Miguel Pereira/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsLISBON, Nov 21 (Reuters) - Hundreds of police raided farms in Portugal's southern Alentejo region on Tuesday, arresting 28 people suspected of human trafficking and labour exploitation, police said. Those detained, both Portuguese and foreign nationals, are suspected of human trafficking, criminal association, aiding illegal immigration, illegal labour recruitment, extortion, money laundering and exerting physical harm, among other crimes. Cases of labour exploitation, when poor migrants are trapped in unpaid work, and human trafficking have been growing in Portugal, particularly in the agricultural sector. The Council of Europe has reported that Portuguese authorities identified 1,152 suspected victims of trafficking in 2016-2020, but the number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions was low for such a large number.

Persons: Miguel Pereira, Patrícia Vicente Rua, Andrei Khalip, Nick Macfie Organizations: Portuguese, REUTERS, Rights, Police, of, Thomson Locations: Southeast Asia, Portugal's, Lisbon, Samouco, Portugal, Rights LISBON, Alentejo, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, India, Senegal, Pakistan, of Europe

☆ Spanish coastguard rescues two Nigerian migrants from ship's rudder
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Polic?a... Read moreMADRID, July 11 (Reuters) - The Spanish coastguard rescued two Nigerian migrants who stowed away on the rudder of a ship that arrived in the Canary Islands from Togo, a coastguard spokesperson and the police said on Tuesday. After being rescued on Monday night in the port of Las Palmas, the migrants were taken to a hospital. The container ship's last stop before reaching the Spanish archipelago off the African coast was Lome, Togo's capital, said the coastguard spokesperson without elaborating. In a similar case in November last year, the Spanish coastguard rescued three African stowaways who had arrived in the Canary Islands after enduring 11 days on the rudder of a fuel tanker from Nigeria. The Spanish-owned Canary Islands are a popular but dangerous gateway for African migrants attempting to reach Europe.

Persons: Read, Joan Faus, Sharon Singleton Organizations: Spanish coastguard, Las Palmas de, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, coastguard, Twitter, MSC, Guardia Civil, La Provincia, Thomson Locations: Canary, Togo, Las Palmas, Las Palmas de Gran, Spain, MADRID, Palmas, Spanish, Lome, Togo's, Lagos, Nigeria

[1/4] Portuguese maritime police is seen outside a warehouse where hundreds of human trafficking victims, mostly migrants from Southeast Asia, were found near Portugal's capital Lisbon, in Samouco, Portugal, June 21, 2023. REUTERS/Miguel PereiraSAMOUCO, Portugal, June 21 (Reuters) - Hundreds of alleged victims of labour exploitation were found on Wednesday in different locations near Portugal's capital Lisbon, including inside a big warehouse where they were kept to work in the illegal harvesting of shellfish. The Maritime Police, which is leading the investigation, said in a statement that all of the 243 victims identified so far were migrants. Portuguese investigators say typical victims are impoverished migrants brought to Portugal by trafficking rings with the promise of a job. The number of investigations, prosecutions and convictions remained low compared to the number of identified victims, the Council of Europe said at the time.

Persons: Miguel Pereira SAMOUCO, Catarina Demony, Miguel Pereira, Christina Fincher Organizations: Portuguese, REUTERS, Maritime Police, CNN, SEF, Reuters, of, Thomson Locations: Southeast Asia, Portugal's, Lisbon, Samouco, Portugal, CNN Portugal, Portugal's Alentejo, Europe, of Europe

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