Gone are the days when Somalia’s Gulf of Aden was considered the most dangerous piracy zone for oil companies and other seafarers. But now, with offshore oil storage bursting at the seams as a result of a disastrously timed oil price war and the demand-decimating effects of COVID-19, the pirate’s treasure trove is shifting. The Gulf of Guinea, a key oil production hub adjoining no less than eight oil-exporting countries off the western African coast, is now officially the world’s deadliest piracy hotspot. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) , the first quarter of 2020 witnessed a spike in maritime piracy across the globe, with 21 of the world’s total of 47 attacks recorded in the Gulf of Guinea compared to the global total of 38 for last year’s corresponding period. Seventeen crew members were kidnapped in the attacks, with the northeastern most part of the tropical Atlantic […]