Major shipping nations disagree on military solution in Gulf of Guinea

The two large shipping nations Norway and Denmark disagree about whether to initiate military action in the Gulf of Guinea. 15 pirate gangs currently terrorize the waters, which has led to a surge in attacks in the past year.

Norway's Minister of Defence, Frank Bakke-Jensen. | Photo: Forsvarsdepartementet Norge

BY DAG HOLMSTAD, IDHA TOFT VALEUR

Published: 18.01.21 at 15:38

There has been lots of attention on the Gulf of Guinea and what actions to take to tackle the rising numbers of pirate attacks and kidnappings in the area. Norway and Denmark normally agree on most subjects, but in this case one says yes and the other says no.

Denmark's Minister of Defense, Trine Bramsen (Social Democrat), has worked hard in recent months to get backing from the nations in the European Intervention Initiative (E12) to initiate collaborative military action in the area. Those efforts, however, have so far been rather unfruitful, which led the minister to tell ShippingWatch last week: "There's not a lot of pull from other countries than Denmark at this time. There's a good dialog with several countries, but when it comes to being ready to go, it's mainly a Danish desire."

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