Maritime
Pirates Abduct Five Seafarers
No fewer than five seafarers have been kidnapped by suspected sea pirates in the Gulf of Guinea onboard a sea vessel.
The pirates attacked a vessel code name F/V ATLANTIC PRINCESS with IMO number 8124412 at 65 nautical miles in South Tema, Ghana.
This was contained in a travel advisory issued by an international agency, Dryad Global, at the weekend.
The vessel was understood to have been approached by one speedboat with eight pirates onboard. The vessel was reportedly fired upon prior to being boarded by five armed men. It was later hijacked and sailed south to a distance of 100 nautical miles before pirates departed the vessel, the agency said.
Among the abducted seafarers are three Chinese, one Russian and one Korean.
Dryad Global said, “This latest attack ends a significant hiatus of activity within the Gulf of Guinea. This latest attack is the first kidnapping incident since 15th March, 2021. Thus far within 2021, there have been 56 personnel kidnapped across five incidents from vessels operating within the Gulf of Guinea.
“This latest incident represents the furthest westerly kidnapping within the Gulf of Guinea to date. Trends across the past 18 months have indicated a broadening of the piratical footprint within the Gulf of Guinea, beyond the traditional heartland of the Nigerian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ)”.
The agency went further to say that “Reports from crew members indicate that two hours prior to the attack, a rusted looking mini tanker vessel was sighted far off the horizon with the AIS off. The vessel is understood to have manoeuvred away from the suspicious tanker.
“Further but unverifiable reporting indicates that the crew had identified the pirates as Nigerians. Given the significant distance of the incident from Nigerian waters, it remains a realistic possibility that the vessel sighted by the crew was being used as a mothership from which to launch and sustain deep offshore operations”.
Recall that the assets acquisition and installation phase of Nigeria’s Deep Blue Project moved towards completion with the delivery of one of the two special mission aircrafts for the project.
The Cessna CJ3 Citation jet for maritime surveillance was received in Lagos ahead of the scheduled launch of the Integrated National Security and Waterways Protection Infrastructure, commonly called the Deep Blue Project, on May 21.
The Deep Blue Project aims to prevent illegal activities in the Nigerian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ), enforce maritime regulations, enhance the safety of lives at sea, and prevent illegal activities in the inland waterways.
By: Chinedu Wosu
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