After the attack on the crude oil tanker ‘Duke’, 20 crew were abducted on December 15. According to V.Ships Management (India) 19 seafarers were released on January 19, but one crew lost his life. Now, new information emerges, noting that the pirates provided medical assistance to the ill crew member, but were not able to save him.
Six pirates boarded the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker “Duke” on December 15, as it was sailing from Luanda, Angola, to Lomé, Togo and abducted all 20 crew members.
Following the abduction, 19 of the crew members were released and were reported to be well in their health . However, one able seaman was taken ill and lost his life shortly after capture.
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Providing new information on the crew member that died, V.Ships said that the seafarer became very ill during the attack and subsequent sea passage. He received medical assistance by his captors, but lost his life on December 23.
The rest of the crew received further medical checks and a de-briefing on their arrival in Mumbai and were in good spirits.
This is the largest abduction incident taking place in West Africa for 2019, following the similar “Nave Constellation” abduction when pirates abducted 19 Indian nationals. In the specific event, the vessel was boarded and four personnel were kidnapped, three of which were recently released with the fourth dying from illness whilst captive.
