Video on Return of Somali Piracy

The Institute for Security Studies recently posted a 20 minute video titled "View on Africa: Is Piracy Back?" with Timothy Walker.

There have been five recent hijackings of ships in the waters off Somalia and in the Gulf of Aden. So far, no ransoms have been paid and several ships have been released. The question discussed is whether Somali piracy will return to the high levels that existed in 2008 to 2011. The video suggests this will probably not happen and even if it does, the international community is better prepared to cope with the threat.

Chinese Fishing Practices under Fire in West Africa

Greenpeace published in May 2015 a report titled "Scam on the African Coast: The Hidden Face of Chinese and Joint-venture Vessels Tonnage Fraud in Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea." 

The report exposes how China's biggest distant water fishing company, the China National Fisheries Corporation, and other Chinese companies, under-declare the gross tonnage of their fishing vessels, whether Chinese flagged or owned and operated under other flags through joint ventures, and jeopardize the sustainable and equitable exploitation of West African marine resources.  The report is based mainly on data collected in Senegal, Guinea Bissau and Guinea.

A French-language copy of the  report is also available.

Somalia Institutes Maritime Proceeding Against Kenya

Somalia on 28 August 2014 instituted proceedings against Kenya before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with regard to a dispute concerning maritime delimitation in the Indian Ocean.  The ICJ press release states that Somalia contends the two countries disagree about the location of the maritime boundary in the area where their maritime entitlements overlap.  Somalia asked the ICJ to determine, on the basis of international law, the complete course of the maritime boundary dividing all the maritime areas pertaining to Somalia and Kenya in the Indian Ocean.  Somalia's 17-page application with sketch maps is available on the ICJ website.

Driving this application is Kenya's designation of oil blocks in Indian Ocean waters claimed by Somalia.  It is a credit to Somalia that, in spite of its many problems, it has the capacity to submit a professionally done claim to the ICJ.  The situation is complicated by the fact that Kenyan troops remain in the Lower Juba as part of AMISOM.