Worried by the high rate of piracy and armed robbery attacks on vessels operating in the sub-region, African women involved in shipping trade have canvassed for a strong continental coast guard that would check the menace in both territorial and international waters.

The women, drawn from various African countries under the auspices of Women’s International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) made the call last week at the first ‘African Women In Shipping Conference 2010’ in Lagos.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the conference, the women expressed worries that African waters were becoming notorious for reasons bordering on the high rate of piracy and armed banditry especially hoodlums operating from Somalia.

The women lamented that apart from loss of lives that emanated from such acts, the African continent was paying dearly for it as ship owners slammed heavy fees as surcharges on goods that were Africa-bound.

They stated that apart from violence and other related crimes at the waters, some vessels suffer the pains of other vessels without compensation.

The communiqué said “apart from crimes and violence, some vessels would commit an offence in a country and would escape to another country or administration where it could not be arrested due to jurisdictional and diplomatic differences.”

The women therefore resolved that a continental outfit like a Coast Guard be created adding that it would go a long way in contending the ugly development as it would have Africa as its operational jurisdiction.

Presenting his paper titled ‘Combating Piracy In African Waters’, the director-general of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Mr Temisan Omatseye said Africa has been on the global spotlight adding that piracy has been on the increase in the last two decades.

Omatsaye noted that the development climaxed in 2008 becoming a serious threat to the maritime development of the African sub-region.

“Recent statistic from the international maritime bureau indicate that in 2009 alone, pirates attacked 217 ships with 47 successful hijacks. Pirates extorted more than USD 60 million in ransoms, the largest payment on record. In 2008, there were 242 attacks with 111 successful hijacking and about USD 40 million in ransoms” he disclosed.

He however assured that his organisation would soon acquire four platforms of its own plus seven non-operational ones from the Nigerian Navy stressing that events at the waters would change in the next 30 days.