Five crew members were kidnapped from the fishing vessel ATLANTIC PRINCESS, when it was boarded 65nm South of Tema, reports by maritime security intelligence firm Dryad Global reveal.
Reports say the vessel was likely approached by one speedboat with 8 pirates onboard. The vessel was reportedly fired upon prior to being boarded by 5 armed men, who abducted the Captain, the Chief Officer, the Second Officer, the Chief Engineer, and the Bosun.
[smlsubform prepend=”GET THE SAFETY4SEA IN YOUR INBOX!” showname=false emailtxt=”” emailholder=”Enter your email address” showsubmit=true submittxt=”Submit” jsthanks=false thankyou=”Thank you for subscribing to our mailing list”]
The vessel is understood to have been hijacked and sailed south to a distance of 100nm before pirates departed the vessel. Specifically, reports from crew members indicate that 2 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 form which to launch and sustain deep offshore operations,
…Dryad Global says.
This latest attack is the first kidnapping incident since 15th March 21 and 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 Guiana, beyond the traditional heartland of the Nigerian EEZ.
With this incident, there has been 56 personnel kidnapped across 5 incidents from vessels operating within the Gulf of Guinea, according to Dryad Global data.
