African pirates ramp up war on 'soft targets'

摘要

Maritime and offshore interests have been warned that 2014 could witness an upswing in pirate attacks off the West African coastline, with some areas, such as the Gulf of Guinea, predicted to experience two attacks per day this year. Those are the estimates of Paramount Group, a privately owned defence consultancy, which also claims that: "Unless it is tackled quickly and effectively, piracy could do serious damage to West Africa's oil and gas industry, slowing development for years to come."