More ships are expected to make calls at East African ports following a drop in maritime crime targeting shipping lines over the past 20 years.
Cargo ships destined for Mombasa, Dar es Salaam, Jeddah and the port of Djibouti have previously had to use circuitous routes to avoid being attacked in the Indian Ocean. Others have had to pay higher insurance premiums or hire security escorts, which in turn made importation costly for the local consumer.
Now, the Allianz Global Corporate & Specialty SE (AGCS) “Safety & Shipping Review 2022” report indicates that maritime piracy in the Indian Ocean has almost disappeared.
Only one incident was recorded aboard the MV Anatolian on August 13, 2021 along the coast of Somalia, but the description of the event is more oriented towards post-smuggling.
The Kenya maritime waters were re-designated from being a High-Risk Area by the global shipping industry about three months ago.
The Gulf of Guinea in 2021 witnessed a drastic decrease in piracy acts of more than 60 percent compared to 2020 but remains the hotspot for global maritime piracy.