eNCA
Wednesday, November 27, 2013
They
are now operating in the Gulf of Guinea off Africa's west coast, and
the way they are going about it is having a direct impact on the pockets
of South African consumers.
For the past two years, the South African navy has been playing a vital role in the international effort to fight piracy.
There has been a dramatic drop in the number of commercial ships that have been seized for ransom.
Chief of Navy, Admiral Teutenberg said: “There are increasing
incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, and that oil that gets stolen there
could also be our oil.”
On-going piracy is costing the South African shipping industry over R100 billion rand annually.
University of Western Cape Professor Renfrew Christie said:
“Something like 95% of exports goes via sea, but it’s more than that. We
have increasing African states that are going to export oil and gas,
and those are vulnerable to piracy. The fact that we currently don’t
have pirates in Cape Town harbour is due to the good work of our navy.”
Teutenberg said: “The shipping magnate must pay increased security
while transiting along the Somalian coast. And the person who’s going to
carry that cost is the consumer in South Africa.”
Cape Town is currently hosting a piracy conference where more than
600 naval and maritime experts are discussing the latest strategies to
combat piracy.
Experts said the solution lies in greater political will, and wider
co-ordination efforts between different navies on the continent.
-eNCA