International efforts to combat piracy in West Africa

Abstract

In recent years, there has been a resurgence of piracy, evidencing its status as one of the most serious threats to maritime security once again. Since around 2012, piracy has emerged as a growing problem in West Africa, most notably in the Gulf of Guinea. This dissertation examines a relatively new piracy hotspot area, West Africa, and hopes to share some insight as to how the region became a piracy hotspot and what makes vessels traversing off the waters of West Africa more prone to pirate attacks. Furthermore, it highlights the effects such attacks have on seafarers, on regional States and on the international community as a whole. The dissertation tackles the piracy provisions found in UNCLOS, the Yaoundé́ Code, and the effects of Resolutions 2018 and 2039 on improving the piracy situation in West Africa. Most States in the region have not yet incorporated the applicable piracy provisions into their national legislation, giving them practically no jurisdiction over the crime of piracy, leading to a lack of prosecution of pirates and an increase of pirate attacks in the area. This dissertation addresses which States in the region have not yet implemented these provisions. Unfortunately, the measures employed so far to combat piracy have not proven to be comprehensive in the long term. The dissertation provides suggestions as to how States in the region can curb the crime, hoping to put an end to the piracy epidemic that has taken over the West African seas for almost a decade.