Piracy will swell again if not policed

South Africa will send anti-piracy patrols to the waters off Mozambique and Tanzania this month, a senior navy official said on Thursday, while warning of a resurgence in attacks if the continent’s oceans are not policed.

“Piracy is not over,” said Rear Admiral Bernhard Teuteberg, director of maritime strategy for the South African Navy on the side-lines of a conference on African maritime security.

Piracy attacks off the coast of Somalia have plummeted to a three-year low thanks to beefed up naval patrols, but Teuteberg said that a withdrawal of patrols would allow ship hijackings to flare up again.

“I think if those forces would withdraw, we would once again see some increase in piracy.”

To protect trade as sea conditions improve with the arrival of the southern hemisphere’s summer, South Africa is moving assets to the coast of Mozambique and Tanzania.

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Source: AFP / Yahoo News.