Increased cooperation with Nigeria benefits Danish shipping in West Africa

By Defence Command Denmark

Denmark and Nigeria want to strengthen cooperation on maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea, which is an important waterway for the Danish merchant fleet and thus the Danish economy. Therefore, the head of the Nigerian Navy, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla, has this week visited Denmark and his Danish colleague, Rear Admiral Søren Kjeldsen, head of the Danish Navy Command.

"Nigeria is a regional power in West Africa and an important player in all matters relating to the safety of shipping in the Gulf of Guinea. Therefore, it is in the interest of the shipping nation Denmark to expand cooperation with Nigeria, explains Lieutenant Colonel Henrik Laugesen, who has been Defence Attaché to Nigeria since February and works at the Danish Embassy in Nigeria's capital Abuja.

"Nigeria has the largest navy in the region, and the country is represented in all relevant forums and collaborations within maritime security. If you want to achieve results in relation to combating piracy and other maritime crime in the Gulf of Guinea, you have to involve Nigeria," says Lieutenant Colonel Henrik Laugesen.

The Nigerian Navy Chief visited a number of the Danish Navy's training facilities, including the bridge simulator at Holmen. Photo: Anders V. Fridberg / Danish Armed Forces

Frogman Corps in Ghana

The Danish Defence has been working with the coastal countries in the Gulf of Guinea to promote maritime security in the area for around 10 years. Previously, Danish efforts against piracy were primarily focused on the waters east of Africa. As the number of very brutal attacks on civilian ships and kidnappings of their crews in the waters off West Africa increased, the efforts of both Denmark and other states were stepped up around 2020, which has led to positive results - see box.

From 2022, the Danish Defence's efforts have been particularly concentrated in Ghana. Here, the Special Operations Command and the Frogman Corps have worked to build a maritime special operations force with an associated training school. Denmark has also donated a bridge simulator and a ship-in-a-box (a ship simulator for training boarding and other practical maritime skills) to Ghana. The Danish Navy Command and the Royal Danish Defence College also work together with authorities in Ghana on issues such as surveillance of maritime areas and cooperation between maritime authorities and civilian maritime actors.

Ship in a box

Cooperation with Nigeria is less developed so far. However, Denmark also donated a ship-in-a-box ship simulator to the Nigerian Navy in 2024, and now the countries are exploring opportunities to expand their cooperation.

"We have started to identify areas where we can expand our co-operation to improve maritime security in the Gulf of Guinea. We would like to cooperate with the EU countries on patrolling, we would like to cooperate on how we can improve our surveillance of the maritime domain and how we can improve the exchange of information between countries in the region,” says Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla

"Denmark wants to support Nigeria in strengthening maritime security in their neighbourhood. The Gulf of Guinea is an important area for global trade, and Denmark has significant maritime interests here, not least because major shipping companies such as Maersk operate in the region. The area has previously been hit hard by piracy and armed robbery at sea," says Rear Admiral Søren Kjeldsen, Admiral Danish Fleet.

During his visit to Denmark, Vice Admiral Emmanuel Ikechukwu Ogalla has, in addition to his meeting with Søren Kjeldsen, also had meetings with the Ministry of Defence, Danish Maritime and Danish Shipping. The Vice Admiral has also visited the Naval Officer School's ship simulator at Holmen, the Naval Weapons Centre at Gniben and several of the Navy's training facilities in North Jutland, including the sergeant school in Bangsbo and the fire school in Hvims. In this way, the Nigerian delegation has travelled all over Denmark in just a few days.

"Denmark is a small country in terms of geography and population, but to me it's a big country in terms of infrastructure and capabilities. Denmark is efficient at making things happen and I think this is an area where we can learn a lot. We would like to cooperate in building and maintaining ships and identify companies in the maritime industry that can help us improve our own shipping industry," says the Nigerian Navy Chief.