All of the 11 crewmen, who were abducted by pirates from their container ship while sailing off the coast of Nigeria in October, are freed and are returning to their families, according to an official statement by Poland’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday.
The 11 crew, including eight Polish nationals and three of unidentified nationality, were kidnapped from the container ship ‘MV Pomerania Sky’, while the vessel was heading to the Nigerian port of Onne, on 28 October. Nine other crewmen remained onboard unharmed.
On the aftermath, Nigeria initiated an investigation and search and rescue mission to find the kidnapped crew.
We would like to thank the shipowner, its co-workers and advisers for their professional handling of this difficult matter. We are grateful also to the Nigerian authorities,
…the statement by the Polish Ministry read.
Nigerian waters and the Gulf of Guinea saw an upward trend in piracy and crew kidnappings in 2018, while this was the fifth kidnapping of Poles there since 2013, according to the Polish Foreign Ministry.
In its latest report, IMB reported there were 156 incidents in the first nine months of 2018. The Gulf of Guinea accounted for 57 of the 156 reported incidents. Most of these incidents have been reported in and around Nigeria (41).