Maritime safety around the Horn of Africa has improved, but shipping risks in the waters off the coast of West Africa are greater. Early attacks took place near the Niger Delta, but now the scope of pirate activities extends beyond the coast of Nigeria, as far as Benin and Togo. Nigeria, with its strong naval power, has launched joint patrols with its neighbors Benin and Togo. Similar cooperation is taking place between Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
France, the United States, Spain and Denmark supported a regional anti-piracy operation. The US and French navies conducted exercises with security forces in the region. However, despite this cooperation, piracy attacks still occur frequently. In Benin, the International Maritime Administration confirmed that there were 11 ship attacks on the coast of Benin in 2020 and 34 incidents in Nigerian waters last year. On March 10, pirates attacked a Dutch oil tanker in the Gulf of Guinea and kidnapped 15 crew members, but 6 others were safe on board.