The many pirate attacks on the international merchant fleet in the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa, where crews are being kidnapped and some even killed, has not grabbed the attention of the UN's International Maritime Organization, IMO.

Secretary General Kitack Lim is deeply concerned about the developments in the region and he and the IMO now urges the member states to act on the matter in an open letter. In here, he calls for enhanced and more coordinated cooperation as well as the implementation of already adopted best practices to deter the region's criminal piracy gangs.

The IMO further plans to form a working group, whose job it will be to work with maritime safety, specifically targeted at the piracy problems in the Gulf of Guinea, which is currently estimated to be the most dangerous place on earth to operate in for the international merchant navy.

The matter will be brought up on the next meeting in the IMO's Maritime Safety Committee in May.

English Edit: Ida Jacobsen

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