U.S. Navy Ship Arrives in Nigeria to Back Anti-Piracy Push
From radarr.africa
2021-08-10 08:13:27
Radarr Africa
Excerpt:
USS Hershel “Woody” Williams, the first ship permanently assigned to Africa, arrived in Nigeria’s commercial capital city of Lagos on Saturday as part of the U.S. government’s support to combat piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
“Ship visits like this one clearly demonstrate the U.S.’s continued dedication to our partners in the Gulf of Guinea as they strive for the security of their resources, their economy, and their people,” Claire Pierangelo, U.S. Consul General in Lagos, told reporters Saturday.
West African loses about 800,000 tons of fish a year, worth almost $2 billion in gross revenue, to illegal activities by both foreign and domestic vessels, Pierangelo said. This removes vast seafood protein from the region.
Nigerian waters are at the centre of the Gulf of Guinea, a vast expanse of the Atlantic Ocean stretching from Senegal to Angola that’s the most dangerous part of the world for sailors, accounting for almost all kidnappings at sea in recent years.
