An unidentified offahore supply vessel was boarded while at 208 nautical miles South of Lagos. All crew are reportedly mustered in the citadel.
Reporting by maritime security intelligence firm Dryad Global indicates that the perpetrators left the vessel and all crew were safe awaiting a nearby patrol vessel.
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The incident appears to have occurred in the vicinity of the recent kidnapping from the MT DAVIDE B, just inside of the edge of the Nigerian EEZ where a number of vessels will look to RV with Nigerian SEV. A total of 15 crew members were kidnapped from the Maltese-flagged tanker in that incident, after the vessel was boarded by 9 armed individuals off Benin, in the Gulf of Guinea, last week.
Vessels within this area are at a unique vulnerability in that they are generally operating within waters beyond the operational footprint of regional security forces,
…Dryad Global notes.
Within 2020, there were five incidents inclusive of kidnapping that occurred within 30nm of the reported incident. The latest annual report by Dryad Global showed that kidnapping incidents remain unacceptably high in Gulf of Guinea, while the annual IMB piracy report recorded the highest ever number of crew kidnappings in 2020, with this region accounting for 96.3% of global crew abductions.
In light of the recent boarding the risk profile to vessels within the area is assessed as CRITICAL with further incidents expected within days. Vessels should continue to be vigilant and report all suspicious activity.
