🇧🇯 Benin
South Atlantic · Container Terminal
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Listed area
Cotonou is inside a Joint War Committee listed area (circular JWLA-035, 16 September 2026):
A call here normally needs prior notice to war underwriters and may carry an additional premium; how the listing applies is agreed contract by contract.
Source: Joint War Committee circular JWLA-035, 16 September 2026 (LMA/IUA), JWC Listed Areas for hull war, piracy, terrorism and related perils.
Cotonou in Benin connects the major commodity exporters of West Africa and South America with global markets, carrying crude oil, iron ore, soybeans, coal, and containerised goods. The Gulf of Guinea has surpassed the Gulf of Aden as the world's most active piracy zone, accounting for the majority of global incidents and the vast majority of crew kidnappings. Unlike Somali piracy's hijacking-for-ransom model, Gulf of Guinea attacks typically aim at kidnap-for-ransom, cargo theft, and oil theft from tankers. The diversion of container traffic around the Cape of Good Hope due to Red Sea security threats has increased congestion at South Atlantic bunkering ports and along the South African coast.
Routed sea distances from Cotonou to the principal global hubs, computed by ArcNautical's routing engine — around land and through the canals a ship actually uses, not great-circle.
Cotonou falls under the Abuja MoU. The Abuja Memorandum of Understanding (West & Central Africa) publishes PSC detention data via OpenSanctions. Across the last 24 months, the Abuja MoU detention dataset records 210 distinct vessel detentions (as of 2026-10-04). Vessel-level detention probability is computed by ArcNautical using flag performance, vessel age, deficiency history, and ownership opacity.
No port calls were observed at Cotonou between 29 Apr 2026 and 5 Aug 2026. This reflects the reach of the terrestrial AIS network behind this page — coverage is densest in Northwest Europe and thins elsewhere — and is not a statement about traffic at Cotonou. The feed has delivered no positions since 5 Aug 2026, so these figures will not change until it resumes.
Plan and score a voyage from Cotonou using 10 intelligence signals. Get composite risk scores, route-level threat exposure, sanctions screening, and fuel/CII estimates.
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