Another piracy incident was reported in Nigeria, as a group of armed men fired upon a containership, located about 19 nautical miles South West of Bayelsa on January 21, Tuesday.
Specifically, the piracy incident has been reported by the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, which noted that about 15 armed people on a speedboat chased the vessel, prior to opening fire upon the ship.
In sight of the pirates, the crew raised the alarm and the non-essential crew hided in the vessel’s citadel.
The piracy reporting further stated that the vessel increased its speed and the armed naval guard onboard returned fire. Consequently, the pirates aborted the attack and sailed away.
Following, the crew has been reported to be safe and unharmed.
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This incident represents the piracy taking place in West Africa and mostly in the Gulf of Guinea, as Risk Intelligence has recorded almost 100 maritime security incidents across the region in 2019 to date, around one third of those involved tanker vessels of all types.
Concluding, IMB’s latest report informed of an alarming increase in crew kidnappings across the Gulf of Guinea, as the Piracy Reporting Centre received 162 incidents of piracy and armed robbery against ships worldwide, in comparison to 201 reported incidents in 2018.
