Benin Bite

The IMB has warned ships to be vigilant when travelling past Benin following a spate of piracy attacks off the west African country.

Noel Choong, head of the Kuala Lumpur-based piracy reporting centre of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), said a Greek-owned oil tanker lost communication Wednesday off Benin and was believed to have come under attack, the eighth attack in recent weeks.

The situation off West Africa is getting more serious, and the attack trend is most definitely on the rise. We featured news of a new kind of attack recently in which whole oil cargoes were lifted, however the more traditional “smash and grab” raids are still a threat.