. . . {J}ust last month the International Maritime Organization sent a letter to all its members reiterating the "gravity of the issue of piracy and armed robbery against ships in the Gulf of Guinea," where the American ship was when it came under attack, "and the extreme violence exhibited" there. Statistics showed that pirate attacks, while down the world over, have sharply jumped in the Gulf of Guinea this year -- assaults allegedly perpetrated by criminal gangs who are looking for cargo ships with commodities or seeking hostages to ransom.
The letter discussed kidnappings along with brazen thefts of large ships' cargo, in which vessels are hijacked for several days to facilitate the laborious transfer of cargo onto the pirate's ship.
"That sort of criminal activity takes effective planning and coordination, logistical organization, technical knowhow and material support on a scale that strongly argues for something higher than random chance piracy being in play," said a maritime security source at sea near where the Americans were kidnapped.
And, an interesting video comparing, in part, the Somali piracy problem with the Nigerian/GOG problem:
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