News

​After Friday’s earthquake at sea, it seems that Algeria was spared the much-feared strong after-shocks (see our 1 August bulletin).

According to an article which recently appeared in the New York Times, France may well have unwittingly become the principle source of funds for Al Qaeda while French nationals have become the preferred kidnap victims.

Early this morning we received an email from Zakia Rahali of our Algiers office advising us that an earthquake of a magnitude of 5.6 occurred at around 04:11 local time this morning off the coast of Algiers.

Fears that the Ebola virus would spread with migrant workers crossing Sierra Leone and Liberia’s frontiers with neighbouring Guinea seem most regretfully to have been justified. The number of confirmed cases in Sierra Leone is now comparable to those in Guinea at between 300 and 400. Another 84 cases have been confirmed in Liberia.

In Guinea, the Ebola epidemic has now spread to Conakry where a total of 15 cases and four deaths were reported on 2 April 2014.

According to Guinea’s Ministry of Health, the incurable Ebola virus has caused 61 deaths in the remote N’zerekore region on the Guinea/ Ivory Coast border.

We were heartened to read this balanced and positive article in the New York Times. Despite the obvious challenges, Tunisia has succeeded in laying the groundwork for a society based on democracy and freedom.

​Following terrorist attacks in Tunisia last week, our local office would advise all vessels calling in the Tunisian ports to reinforce security measures in accordance with the ISPS code.

Budd’s Tema office (Ghana)draws our attention to the successful collaboration between the Ghanaian Police and Navy which led to the arrest of a vessel suspected of stealing fuel from a ship which had been hijacked by pirates in Gabon.

A recent press release from the Tunisian Port Authority describes improvements aimed at addressing operations and security issues.