An unknown number of pirates boarded the reefer Water Phoenix, while 31 nm south west of Lagos, Nigeria, resulting in the kidnap of two crew. This is the third incident in the waters south of Lagos within 2020.
Following the piracy attack onboard the product tanker MT Curacao Trader about a month ago, the 13 kidnapped crewmembers have been released from captivity.
BW Offshore announced that all offshore workers that had been kidnapped in early July have been safely released.
A total of five South Korean fishermen were released in Nigeria, over a month after they were kidnapped from their vessel Panofi Frontier in the Gulf of Guinea, South Korean officials informed.
According to Reuters, seven Russian seafarers were kidnapped following a piracy attack onboard a Liberian-flagged product tanker at Gulf of Guinea.
On 17 July the product vessel MT Curcacao Ttader was been boarded 244nm South Cotonou in Nigeria, by 8 armed individuals. The pirates kidnapped 15 crew.
In a recent statement, IMO Secretary-General Kitack Lim welcomed the latest initiatives to address piracy and armed robbery in the Gulf of Guinea, which has been a main piracy hotspot in the last years.
Following the piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea, the Cyprus Shipping Chamber (CSC) expressed its concern at the the ineffectiveness of the international community to address the continuing piracy crisis.
Reporting indicates that the cargo vessel Rio Mitong has been attacked by a single speedboat with an unknown number of persons onboard. The perpetrators kidnapoed of two crew members.
Dryad Global, maritime security company, reported that 10 crew members have been kidnapped from a product tanker carrier 178 nautical miles south of Lagos, Nigeria, in the Gulf of Guinea.
