2893/5000 This week on the coast of Campeche, the Italian ship Remas, which left two sailors injured, was not an isolated case. Photo: (EFE)

Pirates in the Gulf of Mexico pretend to be fishermen and surprise their victims

MEXICO
Monday, November 18, 2019, 00:00 (GMT + 9)

The average monthly robbery in this year is 16, while in 2018 it was 144 cases, while in 2017 there were only 48 incidents

Insecurity in Mexico has already reached sea levels. The assault this week on the coast of Campeche to the Italian supplier ship Rema, which left two sailors injured, was not an isolated case, there has been an increase in assaults also in Ciudad del Carmen and Dos Bocas, Tabasco state.

OSV REMAS, a technical support vessel, specifically designed to access and operate with oil platforms. Overall length 75.42m

From January to September, the International Federation of Transport Workers (ITF) reported 16 monthly assaults on merchant ships on the maritime shipping strip of the three states mentioned.

The monthly average of ship robberies in 2018 was 144 cases, while in 2017 it was only 48 incidents per month. This year there were at least 167 attacks without a single arrest.

State of Tabasco in the Gulf of Mexico ►

Merchant Marine data indicate that pirate attacks on commercial vessels in Mexico increased 316% between 2016 and 2018.

“This has already generated an international alert, due to the effects on trade. Pirates are ravaging ships more and more, ”Enrique Lozano, ITF inspector for Latin America told the Reforma portal.

The Gulf of Mexico is one of the areas in the world where more oil platforms are operating on the high seas

According to information provided, pirates are not only operating in shallow waters, they go beyond, offshore, more than 80 nautical miles, about 180 kilometers.

“The pirates are also attacking in the Cantarell area, on the platforms (of Pemex) in the northwest of Campeche, offshore, about 80 nautical miles, between Cd. Del Carmen and Tabasco.

Public Security authorities in the coastal municipalities of Yucatán have deployed security operations. (Photo: SSP Yucatán)

The pirates travel in two or more boats with powerful outboard engines with up to 14 armed men, depending on the platform or the ship is how they plan the attack, ”insisted the inspector.

Before the wave of robberies, the Campeche Business Coordinating Council reiterated that these attacks put foreign investments in the energy sector at risk.

"Businessmen look for peaceful areas where their resources are protected, but the number of attacks has increased," said Alejandro Fuentes Alvarado, president of the agency.

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