Pirates Attack Tanker and Kidnap 5 Crew

Medallion Marine have become the latest target of pirates in Nigeria, having had a tanker looted and five Indian crew members taken hostage on Monday.

Pirates attack tanker, kidnap 5 crew members

Pirates have attacked and looted a tanker off the coast of Nigeria, taking five crew members hostage, the ship’s operating company said Wednesday. Medallion Marine did not give the nationalities of those kidnapped but maritime security experts AKE said in a note to its clients that they were all Indians.

Piracy and kidnapping in Nigeria’s oil-producing Niger Delta and offshore are common, and the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea is second only to the waters off Somalia for the risk of pirate attacks, which drives up shipping insurance costs. “On Monday the vessel (SP Brussels) was boarded by heavily armed pirates whilst approximately 40 miles (65 km) off the Niger Delta,” Medallion Marine said in a statement. The pirates ransacked the vessel for personal belongings and took five crew members with them on their departure.”

Nigerian Navy officials were not available for comment. According to a maritime tracking website, the SP Brussels is a 7,600-tonne oil and chemical tanker.

The West African country is among the world’s top 10 crude oil exporters and imports around 80 percent of the fuel products needed for its 160 million people due to a lack of domestic refining capacity.

AKE said the risk of maritime kidnapping is currently heightened off the Niger Delta. Gunmen kidnapped four foreigners, believed to be South Koreans, and two Nigerians working for Korea’s Hyundai Heavy onshore in the Niger Delta on Monday.

Source: Vanguard.