Oil Tanker Association Intertanko said last week that action must be taken to combat piracy off West Africa’s coast and that ship operators should report incidents to give a real picture of the problem of sea borne attacks in the region. While the number of attacks carried out by Somail gangs off the east coast of Africa is bigger and has dominated headlines, West Africa Waters are also a high risk area as countries in the region develop more oil fields and surveillance by authorities is weak. Intertanko, whose members own the majority of the world’s tanker fleet, said the situation in the Gulf of Guinea, particularly off Nigeria and Benin, “must not continue unchecked.” “We appreciate the huge commitment and dedication by Naval forces to date in the Gulf of Aden and off Somalia, and the commitment made by the countries bordering the Singapore straits to combat piracy, but action also needs to be taken off West Africa,” it said in a statement recently. The Gulf of Guinea, which stretches from Liberia in the north, Angola in the South and where nations produce 5 million barrels of oil per day, has attracted armed gangs, pirates and organised criminals. Well armed assailants are ready to use deadly force to snatch oil cargoes and have little interest in holding crews for ransom, which has in contrast been the lure for Somali pirates. Last week pirates attacked an oil tanker off Benin, killing a Ukrainian sailor and stealing the contents of the ship’s safe. Analysts said incidents went unreported in the Gulf of Guinea partly due to fear of reprisals and also because some oil companies do not want to expose their vulnerabilities to gangs. The London based International Maritime Bureau said at least twice as many incidents had taken place this year in the region as had been reported. Intertanko however called on all ship operators to report incidents to their flag state so that the real picture emerges and so that lessons learned are used to take appropriate action to deter, delay and prevent such activities in the nearest future.