Security expert: Kidnapping cases involving pirates from West Africa will typically take 30 days
Photo: Monjasa / The image features the oil tanker "Monjasa Reformer" that has been attacked by pirates recently.
Journalist Didde Venzel of the Jyllands-Posten recently interviewed Hans Tino Hansen, the CEO of Risk Intelligence, about the piracy attack on the Danish ship “Monjasa Reformer” in West Africa.
31 March 2023
In a press release issued on Friday, Danish shipping company Monjasa announced that pirates have abandoned the Danish ship "Monjasa Reformer" following a week-long siege. According to the French Navy, the pirates have seized only six of the foreign crew members, while the remaining ten have been released.
In an interview with Jyllands-Posten, CEO Hans Tino Hansen discussed the recent piracy attack, noting that it is common procedure for pirates to take a smaller group of crew members with them on land.
Moreover, he explained that pirates don't have enough space on their smaller boats to abduct all crew members, so they choose the highest-ranking ones to trigger the maximum ransom. This also reveals the origin of the crew members. Further he added, “People from Western countries are in a higher course and thus more vulnerable.”
Hans Tino Hansen stated that they may take the hostages to the pirate camp and provide the shipyard with life images and videos of the crew members before the ransom negotiations begin. According to him, West African pirates typically belong to criminal groups that engage in piracy and other crimes, and they have no intention to injure the kidnapped crew members.
Kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea usually last for 30 days, and in 99 percent of the cases, the ship pays a ransom to the pirates. Unlike Somalia, where kidnappings might last months, in Nigeria there is a state, police, and navy, so pirates aim to reach the target as fast as possible, he said.
According to Ritzau, the number of pirate attacks has considerably decreased since 2020. Last year, there were 19 attacks, compared to 35 in 2021 and 84 in 2020. Hans Tino Hansen claims that the decline is linked to the increase in oil prices. Furthermore, he continued, “Therefore, the criminal groups are spending more of their forces on illegal oil trade. Right now there is more money to collect and less risk of this type of crime.”
Read the article in full here.
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