Officer ar in good health and they will soon return home
Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a press-release today stating that the four kidnapped officers of the Italian AHTS Asso Ventuno were released by the Nigerian pirates, and will soon return home.
There were no comments on terms of release, however it is thought that the crew was not released against ransom. The four men are safe and in good health , according to Maritime Bulletin
The attack happened 40 nautical miles off the coast of Bayelsa state in the Niger Delta on December 23, as seven gunmen stormed the moving vessel, the International Maritime Bureau stated .The gunmen seized four workers and later fled.
Pirate attacks are on the rise in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea. Over the last year and a half, piracy there has escalated from low-level armed robberies to hijackings and cargo thefts. Last year, London-based Lloyd’s Market Association listed Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia, where two decades of war and anarchy have allowed piracy to flourish.
