Merchant Detectives & Security Agency

Globally, one of the greatest threats in business environment is insecurity. Maritime businesses are currently the back bone of Nigeria economy. Unfortunately, insecurity in Nigeria maritime environment is internationally recognized as a global threat to commercial shipping and other maritime activities. The greatest area of threat to maritime industry in Nigeria is related to high rate of piracy, sea robbery, poaching, smuggling, crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other unregulated and unreported illicit activities in Nigerian maritime environment. In order to detect, identify and report as early warnings on these criminal activities in Nigerian maritime domain, the Merchant Detective and Security Agency (MDSA) has been registered and incorporated to collaborate with other security agencies to improve the security of Nigerian Maritime environment. Towards achieving this objective, the agency works with other subsidiaries of merchant navy directorate like MEEI and MMSS in order to gather intelligence on criminal activities in the maritime domain, including financial and social crimes. Like the saying, security is a collective responsibility; MDSA is willing to collaborate with other security agencies and organizations for the purpose of intelligence and information sharing. The Moto of MDSA is “No Hiding Place” for criminals www.mndsailnavy.com/mdsa

MDSA – The Merchant Navy Directorate

Nigerian Pirates Hijack Vessel At Ghana Port Anchorage DailyTrend July 22, 2019MARITIME 15 3 minutes read

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The Ghana Navy is in hot pursuit of pirates who hijacked a vessel from the Tema anchorage and proceeded towards Togolese waters but abandoned the operation midway.

The Officer Commanding the Eastern Naval Command Commodore, James Kontoh, said this shortly after a Ghana Navy operation rescued five persons, one of them a Ghanaian, from the abandoned vessel.

According to a Ghanaian media, GhanaWeb, some of the hijacked persons were beaten by their abductors before being abandoned aboard the vessel.

Commodore Kontoh said collaboration between the Nigerian Navy and their Ghanaian counterparts is on. He said this is a measure which would go a long way in thwarting the activities of pirates.

The daredevil hijack mission started with a fishing vessel going missing from the Tema anchorage, having been taken away by the suspected Nigerian pirates who abandoned it later on the Keta high seas.
The hijackers had planned having the tuna vessel head for Bayelsa State in Nigeria but abandoned the idea due to fuel shortage.

A traumatized crew member found aboard the abandoned vessel was taken to a health facility for attention.

The tuna vessel with official No. 316694 and registration AFT28 had docked at Berth 10 at the Port of Tema and found on board by the Navy were live rounds, among other items.

The rescue mission was preceded by a series of information by the Navy about vessels coming under attack by pirates – a situation which DAILY GUIDE gathered prompted the Ghana Navy to raise its alert level.

“For the past 48 hours, we have had a series of attacks which we tried to unravel. It all happened Monday dawn about 03:30 when a speed boat came to the Tema anchorage area and forcefully took over a vessel and started heading towards the Togolese waters until the vessel complained of not having enough fuel to continue the journey,” Commodore Kontoh said.

In a sequence of events, the hijackers let go the first vessel and descended upon a tanker vessel. The hijackers transferred three persons from the first vessel to the second one. There was shortage of fuel and so their order for the vessel to head for Bayelsa in Nigeria was abandoned. They then turned to a fishing vessel and took two crew members including the first three into the fishing vessel and proceeded towards Benin waters close to Nigerian waters.

When night fell, the hijackers moved their kidnapped persons into their speed boats and headed for an unknown location, the Navy officer narrated.

It was after the hijackers had left that the fishing vessel sent a signal about their situation when the Navy sent a team to save the distressed crew.

Merchant Navy Directorate Makes Case for 400 Seafarers Sacked Under Global West Employ

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Even though the maritime security contract between the Federal Government and Global West Vessel Specialist Limited was terminated four years ago and replaced with a $195 million to an Israeli firm, HLSI Security Systems and Technologies Limited, fresh indications have emerged that about 400 seafarers were rendered jobless by the change.

In a chat with Shipping Position Daily last week, Secretary of the Merchant Navy Directorate, Capt Alfred Oniye said that the 400 seafarers should be reabsorbed to implement the $195 million security contract signed by the government to an Israeli firm, HLSI Security Systems and Technologies Limited at the instance of the Minister of Transportation, Hon Rotimi Amaechi.

Oniye alleged that some of the 400 seafarers that were laid off by Global West have now returned back to the creeks, perpetuating acts of piracy and sea piracy in order to survive.

He warned that the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) would be adding more to the problem of piracy if she is bringing in fresh people to operate and implement the HSLI security contract.

He said "Global West had 400 seafarers in its employment, after they closed down, did any body bother to ask where are the seafarers? Before Global West employed them, some of them were ex-militants, they were trained to be more professionals, so when I say that the militants or pirates are certified unemployed seafarers, I have my facts. These guys have now gone back to the creeks"

"NIMASA trained almost 3,000 seafarers (National Seafarers Development Programme, NSDP) how many have they given jobs to? 50% of those they trained are ex-militants, so you have trained them to be certified seafarers who are now unemployed"

"Do you know what it means to stay out of job for four months? Not to talk of years"

"You have thought them to be more professional in the job they do and now they are back. If you look at most of the attacks at sea, it is more professional now, they don't strike the way they strike before, they now strike professionally, it takes a professional navigator to know the position of the vessel and know where to enter, you can plot your chat and your radar here and you would know what is happening at sea"

Capt Oniye argued that maritime crimes are bring committed by maritime professionals, and that it takes an expert in the country to know how to operate illegally and successfully.

He urged NIMASA to get the unemployed seafarers engaged, reiterating that they should be the ones NIMASA should be training.

"They should not bring in fresh people, they should get the existing unemployed seafarers and train them to do the security job, some of them are already exposed to ammunition and the security of the waters, you cannot take it away from them, our insecurity is in-house, so the best way to tackle the crime is to make use of the same people who are committing the crime" he said.

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