GoM continues to see threat from maritime crime, piracy

Offshore staff

LONDON — Local reporting indicates that the Gulf of Mexico (GoM) is continuing to see a sustained threat from maritime crime and piracy, with media reports indicating that six thefts have occurred from platforms in the Bay of Campeche within 2023, according to Dryad Global's latest Maritime Security Threat Advisory.

The Bay of Campeche is a bight in the southern area of the GoM.

Official reporting from within the region is believed to be consistently under representative of the true number of incidents, Dryad said. Incidents continue to be centered on the theft of equipment and personal effects rather than the hijack or kidnap of vessels. Despite this, incidents are often reported to be violent, and perpetrators are known to be well armed, Dryad reported.

"Typically, pirates try to board the vessels under attack, steal money and valuables from the ship’s crew, or steal the ship’s cargo," according to a recent Statista report. Global attempted and actual attacks reached a record low in 2019, the data specialist said. Then the COVID-19 pandemic led to a rise in pirate activity, with the global number of actual and attempted piracy attacks increasing 20% in 2020, from 162 piracy incidents in 2019 to 195 incidents the following year. Weak economic conditions have left governments with fewer resources to battle piracy, Statista noted, but in 2021 the number of pirate attacks dropped to 132, the lowest amount on record.

Last August, Dryad Global reported an increase in the cadence of incidents in the GoM, some of which took place on Pemex platforms. Three supply vessels and three oil platforms, all within the Bay of Campeche, were attacked between May and August 2022.

The Cantarell Field, or Cantarell Complex, is a supergiant offshore oil field located 80 km (50 mi) offshore Mexico in the Bay of Campeche. In terms of cumulative production to date, it was once the largest oil field in Mexico. However, production has declined since 2004, falling to 159,300 bbl/d (25,300 sq m/d) in 2019. The Cantarell Complex includes four major fields: Akal, Nohoch, Chac and Kutz.

03.20.2023