Guinea: IMB highlights maritime kidnap risk in Gulf of Guinea

While past attacks in the Gulf of Guinea often involved Nigerian militants targeting the oil industry, kidnapping is now the main threat as piracy shifts from politics to personal gain. The collapse in the oil price means illegal bunkering is no longer nearly as profitable and kidnapping is more lucrative as well as logistically easier than stealing oil or other cargo. Cyrus Mody of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) told African Energy the Gulf of Guinea remained one of the world’s most dangerous regions for piracy.