Seafarers' Assistance Programme
Encyclopedia
The East African Seafarers' Assistance Programme (SAP) is an independent organization for the welfare of seafarers and a piracy
-monitoring group. The organisation was founded in 1996 to assist captured and other seafarers in need and to track and report the actions and effects of pirates off the coast of Africa
, specifically, in the Indian Ocean
off the coast of Somalia
and Kenya
where piracy has traditionally been a major problem. The current head of the group is Andrew Mwangura
.
Piracy
Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence at sea. The term can include acts committed on land, in the air, or in other major bodies of water or on a shore. It does not normally include crimes committed against persons traveling on the same vessel as the perpetrator...
-monitoring group. The organisation was founded in 1996 to assist captured and other seafarers in need and to track and report the actions and effects of pirates off the coast of Africa
Africa
Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...
, specifically, in the Indian Ocean
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...
off the coast of Somalia
Somalia
Somalia , officially the Somali Republic and formerly known as the Somali Democratic Republic under Socialist rule, is a country located in the Horn of Africa. Since the outbreak of the Somali Civil War in 1991 there has been no central government control over most of the country's territory...
and Kenya
Kenya
Kenya , officially known as the Republic of Kenya, is a country in East Africa that lies on the equator, with the Indian Ocean to its south-east...
where piracy has traditionally been a major problem. The current head of the group is Andrew Mwangura
Andrew Mwangura
Andrew Mwangura is a negotiator between pirates and ship owners off the coast of Africa. He directs the Seafarers' Assistance Programme.Samuel L. Jackson's Uppity Films along with are in talks with Mwangura to secure the rights to his life story....
.