Last week robbers attempted to attack the 1,088-gtro-ro Brenda Corlett (built 1974) in the Calabar Channel, Nigeria.
Theincident resulted in a fire-fight and the subsequent deaths of up to sixattackers when naval forces gave chase and fired upon suspicious speedboats.
Detailsof the attack feature in the latest piracy report from UK-based securityconsultants AKE Maritime.
“Anincreased naval presence in some coastal areas has allowed the Nigerian navy totake a more aggressive stance against piracy,” said AKE Maritime.
However,the Hereford-based company said that this had had the adverse effect of pushingmaritime criminality into unpatrolled areas.
Despitethe Nigerian navy’s apparent success AKE said the overall capacity to respondto serious incidents still remains severely limited.
Latelast month Nigeria’s navy claimed to have killed twelve suspected pirates in afailed attack on a vessel in the Gulf of Guinea.
Thegun battle is said to have taken place during an attempted hijacking of the StKitts and Nevis-flagged tanker Notre.
