Officials Attribute the Decline in Horn of Africa Piracy to a Combination of Efforts to Prevent, Disrupt, and Prosecute

The Action Plan establishes the U.S. role in countering piracy as a  collaborative one, seeking to involve all countries and shipping-industry  partners with an interest in maritime security. As incidents of piracy have  declined off the Horn of Africa, the number of steaming days has also  declined, as shown in figure 6. As a result, in September 2010 we recommended that the NSCS, in  collaboration with the Secretaries of Defense, State, Homeland Security,  Transportation, and the Treasury, as well as the Attorney General: (1)  reassess and revise the Action Plan to better address evolving conditions  off the Horn of Africa and their effect on priorities and plans; (2) identify  measures of effectiveness to use in evaluating U.S. counterpiracy efforts;  (3) direct the Counter-Piracy Steering Group to identify the costs of U.S.  counterpiracy efforts including operational, support, and personnel costs;  and assess the benefits, and effectiveness of U.S. counterpiracy  activities; and (4) clarify agency roles and responsibilities and develop  joint guidance, information-sharing mechanisms, and other means to  operate across agency boundaries for implementing key efforts such as  strategic communication, disrupting pirate revenue, and facilitating   Since we issued our report in 2010, conditions have  prosecution. Piracy  declined sharply in 2012 and 2013. During the course of this review, State  officials told us the key measures are the number of hostages and ships hijacked,  but they have not established formal measures and their decisions are generally  guided by discussions rather than formal assessments. In September 2010, we  reported that the United States is not collecting information to determine the most  cost-effective mix of counterpiracy activities. The United States Has Not Assessed Piracy and Maritime Crime in the Gulf of Guinea

According to DOD and State officials, U.S. efforts to combat piracy and  maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea are guided by the same over-arching  U.S. policies and security goals as the efforts to combat piracy off of the  Horn of Africa. DOD and State officials told us that as the United States  and international partners look to expand efforts in the Gulf of Guinea,  coordinating activities to achieve the most effective mix and efficient use  of resources is increasingly important. However, according to officials from the U.S.  government agencies working in the region, the NSCS has not directed  them to conduct a collective assessment of efforts to combat piracy and  maritime crime that weighs the U.S. security interests, goals, and  resources in the region against the various types of agency and  international activities underway. An assessment of the various  U.S. and international efforts, as well as of the geopolitical environment  and other regional factors could help determine what additional actions  are needed to align all of the efforts underway. Recommendations for Executive Action

To help ensure that efforts to counter piracy and maritime crime are  coordinated and prioritized to effectively address the evolving threat, we  recommend that the Assistant to the President for National Security  Affairs, in collaboration with the Secretaries of Defense and State, work  through the Counter-Piracy Steering Group or otherwise collaborate with  the Secretaries of Homeland Security, Transportation, and the Treasury,  and the Attorney General to  conduct an assessment of U.S. efforts to address piracy and maritime  crime in the Gulf of Guinea to inform these efforts and determine whether additional actions to address counterpiracy and  maritime security, such as developing an action plan that includes  elements of a strategic approach, are needed to guide and coordinate  activities. In an email from the NSCS dated June 12, 2014, the NSCS did not  concur or non-concur with our recommendations, but provided  information related to its current counterpiracy efforts. Key contributors to this report are found in  Appendix V.

Appendix I: Objectives, Scope, and Methodology

This report assesses how piracy off the Horn of Africa has changed since  2010 and describes U.S. efforts to assess its counterpiracy actions, given  any changing conditions; and identifies trends in piracy and maritime  crime in the Gulf of Guinea and U.S. efforts to address them and  evaluates the extent to which the United States has assessed its  counterpiracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea. To assess how piracy off the Horn of Africa has changed since 2010, we  analyzed data from the International Chamber of Commerce’s  International Maritime Bureau (IMB) and the U.S. Office of Naval  intelligence (ONI) on reported piracy incidents, hostages taken, and  ransoms paid off the Horn of Africa from 2008 through 2013. To identify trends in piracy and maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea we  analyzed IMB data on actual and attempted piracy incidents from 2007  through 2013, and ONI data from 2010 through 2013.
Why GAO Did This Study

Piracy and maritime crime continues to threaten ships off the Horn of Africa's east coast and in the Gulf of Guinea off Africa's west coast, putting seafarers in harm's way and costing governments and industry billions of dollars in ransom, insurance, and protective measures. The types and causes of piracy and maritime crime, as well as the African states' ability to address the problem in the two regions, differ. To help U.S. agencies coordinate efforts, the NSCS developed an interagency plan in 2008 to prevent, disrupt, and prosecute piracy off the Horn of Africa in collaboration with industry and international partners. GAO was asked to evaluate U.S. counterpiracy activities.
This report: (1) assesses how piracy off the Horn of Africa has changed since our 2010 review, and describes U.S. efforts to assess its counterpiracy actions, given any changing conditions; and (2) identifies trends in piracy and maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea and U.S. efforts to address them, and evaluates the extent to which the United States has assessed its counterpiracy efforts in the Gulf of Guinea. GAO reviewed plans, activities, and data from 2007 through 2013 and interviewed officials from U.S. agencies, international partners, and industry, selected as a nongeneralizable sample for their involvement in counterpiracy activities.

What GAO Found

Piracy incidents off the Horn of Africa's east coast near Somalia have declined sharply since 2010, but U.S. agencies have not assessed their counterpiracy efforts as GAO recommended in 2010. Since 2010, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) reports piracy incidents declined from 219 to 15 in 2013. Similarly, from 2010 to 2013 hostages taken by pirates declined from 1,016 to 34. Also, a World Bank report stated that total ransoms declined by 2012. Officials participating in counterpiracy activities from the Departments of Defense and State, among others, as well as shipping industry officials and international partners, attribute the decline to a combination of prevention, disruption, and prosecution activities. However, officials cautioned that this progress is tenuous, and discontinuing these efforts could allow piracy to resurge. Despite changing conditions, U.S. agencies have not systematically assessed the costs and benefits of their counterpiracy efforts. Agency officials stated that their decisions and actions are guided by discussions rather than formal assessments. GAO has previously noted that assessments of risk and effectiveness in an interagency environment can strengthen strategies and resource usage. As such, GAO's prior recommendations remain valid and could help U.S. agencies identify the most cost effective mix of efforts and prioritize activities as they respond to changing conditions and fiscal pressures while avoiding a resurgence in piracy.
Off the west coast of Africa, piracy and maritime crime has been a persistent problem in the Gulf of Guinea, as shown in the figure below. Although the United States has interagency and international efforts underway with African states to strengthen maritime security, it has not assessed its efforts or the need for a collective plan to address the evolving problem in the region. The U.S. role in addressing piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has focused on prevention, disruption, and prosecution, through training and assistance to African coastal states. However, according to U.S. agencies working in the region, the National Security Council Staff (NSCS) has not directed them to collectively assess their efforts to address piracy and maritime crime. An assessment of agencies' Gulf of Guinea efforts could strengthen their approach by informing the appropriate mix of activities to achieve the most effective use of limited resources, as well as help determine if additional actions are needed.
Reported Incidents of Piracy and Maritime Crime, 2008 through 2013

What GAO Recommends

GAO recommends that the NSCS, with the Secretaries of Defense and State, collaborate with the involved agencies to assess their efforts and to determine whether additional actions are needed to guide efforts in the Gulf of Guinea. The NSCS did not concur or non-concur with GAO's recommendations but provided an update on its planning activities.