Offshore staff
LONDON — Dryad Global’s latest Maritime Security Threat Advisory (MSTA), released Aug. 15, has outlined that the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is in the midst of a pirate problem.
In the GoM, on Aug. 7, pirates onboard two speedboats boarded and robbed a manned semisubmersible drilling rig in the Bay of Campeche approximately 28 nautical miles north of Paraiso.
Later, on Aug. 10, a vessel was approached by suspected pirates when transiting inbound to Puerto Dos Bocas.
There has been an increase in the cadence of incidents in the GoM, according to the report.
Since May 22, there have been six maritime events just within the Bay of Campeche: three supply vessels have been attacked and three oil platforms.
Despite previously focusing on unmanned assets, there has been a noticeable evolution where pirates are boarding vessels or oil platforms when personnel are present, the MSTA stated.
The MSTA published last month said pirates attacked five Pemex satellite platforms in the Cantarell Productive Field in the Bay of Campeche of the GoM on July 16. The Bay of Campeche remains the epicenter of maritime crime and piracy within the Gulf of Mexico, the MSTA noted at the time. There is believed to be a significant degree of under-reporting of incidents within the GoM, according to the MSTA.
View the full August MSTA report here.
08.17.2022
