On January 19, a product tanker was attacked while in Abidjan Anchorage, Ivory Coast. The armed robbery that took place, resulted to the robbers escaping the vessel with stolen ship’s stores. According to IBM between the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo the robbery incidents more than doubled in 2018.
Specifically, the incident took place at 22.40 UTC.
Two robbers that were armed with long knives used a hooked ladder to board on the product tanker. The robbers were both armed with long knives.
The ordinary seaman (OS) was conducting rounds as part of everyday routine, when he noticed a ladder hooked to the ship’s rail.
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Consequently, he also spotted the two robbers near the poop deck winch.
After seeing the robbers, the officer on the watch notified and rang the alarm.
As the Master of the ship directed the searchlights towards the poop deck, the robbers managed to escape with stolen ship’s stores.
IMB reported that attacks in waters between the Ivory Coast and the Democratic Republic of Congo more than doubled in 2018, accounting for all six hijackings worldwide, 13 of the 18 ships fired upon, 130 of the 141 hostages taken globally, and 78 of 83 seafarers kidnapped for ransom.
Additionally, the region saw a significant new spike in violence in the last quarter of 2018. Vessels have been boarded by pirates well outside territorial waters, with crew kidnapped and taken into Nigeria where they are held for ransom.
In the last three months of 2018, 41 kidnappings were recorded in waters off Nigeria alone:
On 27 October 2018, 11 crew were kidnapped from a container vessel 70 nautical miles off Bonny Island, Nigeria. Two days later, Nigerian pirates in a speedboat hijacked a tanker underway 100 nautical miles off Point Noire, Congo. Eight of the 18 crew were kidnapped.
