ADF STAFF
Armed pirates captured a fishing vessel just outside Sierra Leone’s port in August 2023. Sierra Leonean, Liberian and Ivoirian coast guards came together to catch the pirates and free the crew.
As the hijacked boat fled, Sierra Leone’s coast guard handed the pursuit to Liberia. After a brief firefight, Liberian forces seized the vessel, rescued the 23 crew members and arrested two of the 13 pirates. The others escaped on an inflatable boat. Liberia prosecuted the pirates under its antipiracy law, charging them with criminal conspiracy and armed robbery, among other crimes, Liberia Navy Capt. John Willie told attendees at the 2024 African Maritime Forces Summit and Naval Infantry Leadership Symposium-Africa in Accra in May.
Willie and Commodore Philip Juana, chief of naval staff for Sierra Leone, said the hijacked fishing vessel is an example of how African nations can work together to fight maritime crime, particularly in the pirate-plagued Gulf of Guinea. However, Juana added, cooperation at sea is only part of fighting maritime crime. Countries also must align their laws with regional and international standards to ensure that criminals are brought to justice.
Sierra Leone lacks the legal framework it needs to prosecute maritime criminals, Juana said. So far, only a few African counties have legal frameworks to punish piracy. Nigeria was the first African country to pass anti-piracy legislation in 2021.