For years, pirates have threatened shipping off the coast of Somalia. International warships and private security teams have put an end to the problem. Instead, a new, much more complex trouble spot has now developed in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea.
In the wake of Tom Hanks’ latest Hollywood film “Captain Phillips”, piracy off the Somali coast has recently made it back into the headlines. However, the problem in East Africa hardly exists today. Thanks to the presence and deployment of private security teams on merchant ships and international warships from NATO and the EU (Operation Atalanta) as well as Russia and China, the sea routes around the Horn of Africa are now considered largely safe again. In 2013, the number of pirate attacks in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia fell to its lowest level since 2008. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB, a UN sub-organization), only eight attacks were recorded in the first six months of the previous year, including two hijackings in which the ships were quickly freed by naval units.
However, there is now a new threat to international shipping in West Africa and the Gulf of Guinea, where pirate activity has recently increased significantly. Unlike off Somalia, however, the problem there is much more complex: It is less about extorting the highest possible ransoms and more about robbing entire ship and tanker loads. It is also about drug smuggling from Latin America to Europe and arms smuggling, for example for terrorist groups such as the Nigerian Boko Haram or the jihadists in Mali who are being fought by France. An aggravating problem here is that, regardless of their actual intentions, these and other terrorist groups such as the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MOJWA) and Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) work closely together on the ground. They even maintain their own navy, which is provided by criminals, pirates and other volunteers, in return for a share of the billion-euro business. All in all, they are often better equipped than the often languishing navies of the more than 20 neighboring countries. In any case, their actions are much more cold-blooded and brutal. This fact, and also the fact that the pirates in West Africa largely operate close to the coast and not on the high seas like off Somalia, makes it difficult for the EU, NATO, the UN and other countries such as Brazil to provide urgently needed assistance. They are facing an armed and well-organized enemy, while at the same time being restricted by international law with their ships. Invading the territorial waters and exclusive economic zones of the countries concerned and taking armed action there would probably cause major political upheaval. The solution can therefore only lie in increased material, financial and personnel cooperation. And this is precisely what was discussed at two major conferences on the problem that took place in Casablanca (Morocco) and Accra (Ghana) in recent weeks and at which Militär Aktuell was present. According to the African chiefs of staff and naval commanders present (see also quotes on the next page), in addition to modern equipment, the joint training of marines is crucial in the fight against pirates on the ground. With the support of advisors and in the form of bilateral and multilateral exercises, the main aim is to train communication processes and chains of command, as well as so-called boarding – i.e. boarding foreign ships on the high seas even against the will of their crew. In addition to handling weapons and sensors, the soldiers also have to master special equipment, for example to preserve evidence for use in court. And just in case, they should also be trained in the use of emergency medicine.
So far, so good. But what makes the fight against pirates really complicated is the fact that the neighboring states are not only sovereign, but also very different in terms of their capabilities, their understanding of the state and their maritime equipment. While Nigeria or Ghana acquire light corvettes and fast patrol boats from France, the Netherlands or China on the basis of steadily increasing revenues from their offshore oil fields, Liberia, for example, only took back its entire military authority from private US military companies in February. And while Ghana is deploying three Austrian Diamond DA-42 aircraft for sensor-based coastal water reconnaissance, another country is trying to cover a 250-kilometer coastline with four 20-year-old speedboats. This not only opens the door to smugglers, but also to illegal industrial fishing, which threatens the livelihoods of the coastal population. As recently as January, the Senegalese coast guard apprehended a Russian trawler that had cast its nets close to the coast without a license. After paying a fine of one million US dollars (730,000 euros), the ship from Murmansk was allowed to continue its journey after a month. But with all these problems, what can a sensible solution look like? If the poorer countries in the region have their way, then the key to success lies in European development aid. Millions from Brussels, Berlin and Paris are being used to get the fleets up to scratch and the soldiers into shape. On the old continent, this wish naturally meets with headwinds. The armament would be at the expense of the fight against poverty in those countries, so the criticism goes; it is really about oil and the armament of other countries should be avoided in the first place and in principle. But this is about tangible European security interests: Several representatives at the conferences see West Africa as Europe’s first line of defense against drug smuggling and human trafficking. Nevertheless, joint exercises and naval maneuvers with West African states are currently the highest priority for Europe and the USA. For example, the annual Obangame Express anti-piracy and counter-terrorism maneuver, which has been running since 2012, is being practiced. Under the leadership of the US Naval Forces Africa (NAVAF), Belgium, Benin, Brazil, Cameroon, Côte d’Ivoire, Equatorial Guinea, France, Gabon, the Netherlands, Spain, Nigeria, São Tomé and Príncipe, the Republic of Congo and Togo took part this year. At these conferences, representatives from Interpol, Europol and the US African Command attempted to play their part in solving the problem. European arms companies were also represented. First and foremost the Dutch shipyard Damen, which is very popular in West Africa thanks to its modular speedboat solutions, and the Swiss-German company Ruag with its maritime surveillance aircraft based on the Do-228. They do not want to leave the local market to Beijing without a fight: China is already making aid and investment payments in Africa amounting to 30 billion dollars (21.9 billion euros) a year.
It is no wonder that speedboats and corvettes from China are already in service in Ghana, Nigeria and Mauritania and that Beijing is threatening to outstrip Europe economically in Africa via the detour of arms cooperation.
