Pirates attacked a cargo vessel off the coast of Nigeria and
kidnapped two crew members, a maritime expert confirmed on Thursday, in
the latest high-seas strike in the Gulf of Guinea.
The CMA CGM Turquoise, managed by Dioryx Maritime in Greece, was
stormed late on Monday as it travelled between Nigeria’s commercial hub
Lagos and Douala in Cameroon.
It was the second attack in one day: early Monday pirates kidnapped
six crew members of a Turkish cargo ship, the M/T Puli, according to the
Nigerian Navy.
“This attack – like most others off the Niger Delta – was carried out
at night and carried an element of surprise".
“The crew mustered in the citadel after the attackers had boarded the
ship, but two crew members – the Filipino 2nd officer and the Egyptian
electrician – did not make it there in time and were seized by the
attackers”, he said in an email.
The Liberian-flagged vessel, chartered by French shipping company CMA
CGM, was attacked at 20:56 (19:56 GMT), 28 nautical miles from the
coastline of the oil-rich Niger delta region.
Steffen, the director of maritime security at Risk Intelligence, said
the target was unusual and indicated the pirates were aiming at
kidnapping rather than hijacking tankers for their fuel cargo.
The Gulf of Guinea is increasingly becoming a piracy hotspot and Risk
Intelligence has recorded 32 offshore attacks for Nigeria alone this
year.
Steffen linked the increase to the winding down of an amnesty scheme
to former Niger Delta militants, who demanded a fairer share of oil
revenue through kidnapping and sabotage in the 2000s.
It also reflected a trend of a decrease in abductions and offshore
piracy in the region around elections. Nigeria held presidential and
parliamentary polls last year.
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