The Gulf of Guinea has become the most dangerous maritime zone in the world. This area shared by 12 African countries is under threat from a vast network of sea gangs. And the attacks there are increasingly violent and sophisticated.

The Gulf of Guinea is by far the most dangerous maritime area in the world. The situation has further deteriorated in this maritime area where Nigerian pirates are becoming more professional. They use trawlers as "mother" ships, which come in support of the small fast boats used to launch the collisions. A technique that allows them to attack further from the coast as well as to launch longer and more complex operations. In 2020, 95% of global maritime kidnapping incidents were recorded in the Gulf of Guinea, according to the World Maritime Bureau (BMI). In the same year, this area, which extends over 5,700 km from the coasts of Senegal in the north to those of Angola in the south, recorded 130 of the 135 kidnappings of sailors recorded in the world. An insecurity that threatens, in the short term, trade and, in the long term, the stability of the neighboring countries by compromising the development of this strategic economic zone. Pirates operating in the Gulf of Guinea are almost exclusively Nigerians based in the oil-rich Niger Delta.

On January 23, 2021, the Mozart, a container ship belonging to the Turkish shipowner Boden Denizcilik AS flying the Liberian flag was attacked by sufficiently equipped assailants. Last March, the Bourbon Evolution 802, which left Abidjan on March 8 and was then 200 miles off the southern coast of Benin, was attacked by a dozen pirates. On Monday, May 31, a 62-meter Ghanaian-flagged fishing vessel, the Iris-S, operated by DH Fisheries, was stormed by armed pirates 108 nautical miles off the coast of Benin.