Nineteen crew that were kidnapped by pirates from the oil tanker ‘MT Duke’ off Benin last month, have been released, while one died during the captivity. The twenty Indian crew were kidnapped on December 15.
All of the crew members are reported to be well in their health, and they will soon return home to their families. However, one able seaman was taken ill and lost his life shortly after capture.
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Union Maritime released a statement after this development, saying that it is seeking further information from those crew members that have been released and a full investigation will be held into the AB’s demise.
According to reports, six pirates boarded the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker “Duke” on December 15, which was sailing from Luanda, Angola, to Lomé, Togo and abducted all 20 but one crewmembers; This marks the largest incident taking place in West Africa for 2019.
Specifically, the six pirates boarded the tanker which at the time was sailing about 115 nautical miles south-east of Lomé and kidnapped all but one crewmember, which is assumed to be of Nigerian nationality.
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.
