As piracy in the Indian Ocean quietens down, the focus is shifting towards West Africa where similar activity is taking over the ‘piracy narrative’.
We’ve become quite adept at discussing the situation with Somali Piracy, but with a fall in successful attacks and a monsoon, the situation across the Gulf of Guinea (GoG) is fast gaining scrutiny. None more so than with the tragic news of deaths on a commercial vessel at the hands of ‘pirates’, this to accompany the rise in beatings and even kidnappings across the region.
An area the size of the Gulf presents an awesome challenge for any one of the ten nations affected in trying to bring the criminals to account. In trying to exercise maritime security of their territorial waters, their ‘message’ to the criminals and shipowners desperately needs to be harmonised in order to begin to be effective.
The UN has called for another security seminarlater this year, where affected nations will try and derive a comprehensive approach. Communicating that change will be crucial, where only a change of narrative will influence a positive outcome.
In Strategic Communications, the “Narrative” is crucial, it is the golden thread passing through all the messages that communicate what you do and how you do it.
Whether the region can agree to a comprehensive strategy is yet to be seen, but we should expect the ‘pirates’ to exploit the current narrative and continue to plague vessels and seafarers in the region.
Written by PGC Global. Contact:
0044 (0)7805 119159
This article was posted by Neptune Maritime Security via pgc-global.org. MaritimeSecurity.Asia in cooperation with www.neptunemaritimesecurity.com
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