405 Fernando Ibáñez Gómez Maritime Insecurity in the Gulf of Guinea:... January 2014 there were reports of a further foiled attack, carried out by a mother ship and two skiffs. In less than 24 hours, MSCHOA had also reported its disruption. These are very significant facts, in sharp contrast with what had been happening previously. At present, and given the almost total lack of piracy incidents, military forces are focusing their attention particularly on intelligence initiatives and reconaissance activities in the area. In this context we should mention two friendly approaches, whereby naval forces approach local seafarers, particularly fishing vessels and cargo dhows, to whom they provide assistance and exchange first-hand information as part of their counter-piracy operations.4 2.2. Protection Measures for Vessels The shipping industry has promoted several protection measures and practices aimed at providing commercial vessels with guidance on how to act should they be subjected to attack by pirates.5 The aim is to prevent the pirates from hijacking the boat. Two of the most efficient measures have proved to be the use of a secure zone or citadel and the provision of armed security personnel. The meaning of citadel here is to enclose the crew in a safe place, which the assai-lants are unable to enter. Given that the Somali pirates are unable to pilot merchant vessels, they need the crew members to steer the ship to their pirate base. From there, negotiations are initiated with a view to obtaining a ransom. The enclosure of the crew in a citadel has prevented the hijacking of dozens of vessels in recent years. It is by far the most effective non-lethal security measure deployed to date in the fight against Somali pirates. Nevertheless, the pirates have occasionally managed to gain entry to the citadel, or to force the crew to abandon their refuge. Therefore, in order for a citadel to be really effective, it must comply with a series of requisites: • It should be built with materials that impede access to the pirates, guaranteeing the safety of the crew in the shortest possible time. 4 For example, the Spanish warship “Meteoro” made 23 friendly approaches to vessels in just three days: http://eunavfor.eu/esps-meteoro-enhances-understanding-of-local-sea-area-with-23-friendly-approaches- in-3-days/ Consulted: 08/09/2014 5 See the various versions of Best Management Practices for Protection against Somalia Based Piracy. The last of these was published in September 2011: http://www.imo.org/MediaCentre/HotTopics/ piracy/Documents/1339.pdf Consulted: 03/09/2014
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