Pirates boarded a container ship off Nigeria, kidnapping 11 crew including eight from Poland. The container ship ‘MV Pomerania Sky’ was heading to the Nigerian port of Onne and was boarded on October 28.
According to the vessel’s management company, the pirates abducted 11 of the crew, while nine others remain on board and are unharmed.
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Nigeria has already started an investigation and search and rescue mission in order to find the kidnapped crew, and further updates are expected soon. In addition, the vessel’s firm is cooperating with local authorities to secure the kidnapped members.
As Polish media said, eight of the abducted crew were from Poland, while the other three nationalities are not known.
The nationality of the three other abducted crew members was not immediately clear.
In the latest report by IMB on piracy incidents, there were 156 incidents in the first nine months of 2018.
The Gulf of Guinea accounts for 57 of the 156 reported incidents. Most of these incidents have been reported in and around Nigeria (41), and there has also been a noticeable increase in the number of vessels boarded at the Takoradi anchorage, in Ghana.
In addition, 37 of the 39 crew kidnappings for ransom globally have taken place in the Gulf of Guinea region, in seven separate incidents.
