Maritime security in West Africa: Aiming for long-term solutions

This article will briefly examine the maritime security situation in 2013 in the Gulf of Guinea and the coast of West Africa, where a number of internationally integrative approaches for improving counter-piracy efforts are being developed. As the maritime domain is both vast and complex, the article focuses on two of the major problems causing the present situation of maritime insecurity - firstly, piracy and armed robbery at sea, and secondly, Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing. The progress in the provision of maritime security in regards to both problems is assessed. Finally, a number of concise recommendations for improving maritime security are highlighted.