U.S. navy secures oil, fights drugs off Africa

DAKAR, April 10 (Reuters) – The United States is stepping up its naval presence in the lawless waters off West Africa to secure vital oil supplies and curb drug smuggling being used to finance terrorism, an admiral said.

Washington deployed the USS Fort McHenry, a 600-foot (185 metre) warship, to the Gulf of Guinea last year to train West African navies on improving maritime safety in a region that supplies nearly a fifth of U.S. oil imports.

Rear Admiral Anthony Kurta said the United States was mounting a constant naval presence in the region under a scheme known as the African Partnership Station (APS) to protect the interests of Washington and its European and African allies.

… “There has been a growing realisation by a number of countries of the importance of Africa,” Kurta said.

Once a permanent presence was achieved in West and Central Africa, Washington hoped to extend the scheme to the continent’s east coast, where a luxury French yacht and its 30 crew members were captured by pirates last week.

Reuters