On 11 November, armed pirates boarded a drifting bulk carrier around 17 nautical miles SSW off Bonny Island, Nigeria, kidnapping 10 of the vessel’s crewmembers, a report from ICC IMB mentions.
The pirates entered the bridge and fired their weapons damaging the bridge windows.
After that, they stole ship’s properties, crew personal belongings and kidnapped 10 crew prior to escaping in their boat.
The Nigerian Navy’s interception was crucial, as two of its vessels managed to stop the pirates and rescued the kidnapped crewmembers, apprehending at the same time five pirates, ICC reports.
After that, the ship was escorted into the inner anchorage under naval escort and armed guards were placed onboard the vessel during its stay.
One day later, on 12 Nov 2017, the ship resumed her passage under naval escort to Port Harcourt and berthed.
This incident is another example of the dangerous situation that is occurring in Nigeria.
Prior to this piracy attack, pirates had approached crude oil tanker off Nigeria, on 1st of November, while in October eight pirates boarded the container ship ‘Demeter’ and kidnapped six crewmembers.
According to an IMB report, a total of 20 reports against all vessel types were received for Nigeria, in 2017, 16 of which occurred off the coast of Brass, Bonny and Bayelsa. Guns were reportedly used in 18 of the incidents and vessels were underway in 17 of 20 reports. 39 of the 49 crewmembers kidnapped globally occurred off Nigerian waters in seven separate incidents. Other crew kidnappings in 2017 have been reported 60 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria.
This attacks made some shipping firms spend over $45 million per year, in order to escort their vessels while they sail in Nigerian waters.
