![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/635920950208930196-nigeria-hijackedjpg.jpg\")
Arrested pirates that hijacked the Panama-flagged Maximus vessel are shown to the media in Lagos, Nigeria, Feb. 22, 2016.<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Photo Credit: Sunday Alamba\/AP<\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n Agle called it “a coordinated effort and the biggest piece in progress in the region” since the United States began training with African nations in the Gulf of Guinea in 2009.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The rescue was directed by Nigerian Rear Admiral Henry Babalola, who told the AP that it was made possible by a maritime agreement allowing Nigeria to patrol Sao Tome’s waters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “When we challenged them (the pirates), they said that they were in international waters” with the law of the sea on their side. But the agreement allowed the Nigerians to storm the ship after eight hours of attempted negotiations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n “International cooperation is the new mantra for maritime security,” Babalola said. “We cannot go it alone.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n Six pirates were captured and 18 crew members freed. Several pirates escaped with two crew members who remain hostages, Steffen said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Babalola stressed the economic impact of piracy, pushing up the price of maritime insurance with costs ultimately passed on to consumers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One-fifth of all maritime crime in the world is committed in the Gulf of Guinea, but that is only the tip of the iceberg since an estimated two-thirds of piracy acts there are never reported, according to Ocean Beyond Piracy, a private, Colorado-based organization.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The Gulf of Guinea is primed for economic growth, a major route for oil supplies shipped around the world with a mild climate that is ideal for commerce, docking and fishing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Copyright 2016 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" It was supposed to be a U.S.-led naval training maneuver off the coast of West Africa when real-life drama intervened, with pirates taking over an oil tanker and turning the exercise into a rescue mission.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":48559,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":65,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[12,65],"tags":[],"coauthors":[1801],"class_list":["post-22775","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-your-navy"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"YSZLVMPCHJHGPC2SXCC4V7EWO4","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-navy\/2016\/02\/26\/navy-training-exercise-off-west-africa-becomes-real-life-drama\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n