Today the Government announced the upcoming Danish priorities regarding the fight against piracy and other criminal activity at sea.
From 2019 to 2022, the priorities in the fight against piracy and other maritime crimes will replace the current Government strategy of 2015-2018. The Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Minister of Defense, the Minister of Justice and the Minister for Industry, Business and Financial Affairs presented the priorities together today.
The prioritised initiatives contain both civil and military efforts against piracy based on a whole-of-government approach both in Denmark and abroad. The geographical focus remains Western Africa and the Horn of Africa.
• See the joint press release here (in Danish)
For more details about piracy, see the Danish Maritime Authority’s thematic website here.
Facts regarding piracy
Piracy still pose challenges for Danish shipping and seafarers several places around the world. In recent years, there has been a decreasing tendency in the number of occurrences of piracy, globally. However, there are regions where piracy remains problematic for all seafarers.
• In 2017, there were 180 registered occurrences of piracy, according to International Maritime Bureau. This is the lowest number since 1995
• In the first half of 2018, around 40 % of the global occurrences of piracy happened in Western Africa. The majority of occurrences happens near Nigeria
• At the Horn of Africa, the situation is stable for now, because of a massive international effort at sea and by land. However, the instability in Yemen and changed regional dynamics could lead to new threats against the international shipping in the region.