As MC-Schiffahrt informed, its vessel MarMalaita was attacked by pirates on 14th of August between 23.00h and 24.00h local time on the anchorage of Douala / Cameroon. A group of pirates boarded the ship and abducted 8 of the 12 crewmembers.
The ReCAAP ISC published the Guidance on Abduction of Crew in the Sulu-Celebes Seas and Waters off Eastern Sabah. Between 2016 and 2019, a total of 29 incidents of abduction of crew, consisting of 18 actual incidents and 11 attempted incidents, were reported to ReCAAP ISC.
The Turkish ship owner Kadıoğlu Maritime has managed to establish communication with a group of pirates who kidnapped 10 Turkish seafarers from the general cargo ship ‘Paksoy 1’ off Nigeria, in the night hours of Saturday, 13 July, while sailing from Cameroon to the Ivory Coast.
Following the Turkish Foreign Ministry’s statement, ten Turkish seafarers onboard the Paksoy 1 freighter were kidnapped by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, on Saturday night, July 13. The ship is now on anchorage at the port Tema, Ghana. The Turkish Foreign Ministry is closely collaborating with authorities in Nigeria and Ghana to safely release the crew.
ICC published a report on piracy and armed robbery in the timeframe from January 1 to June 30, 2019. Based on the report, the seas circling West Africa are the most dangerous for piracy, as of the 75 seafarers taken hostage onboard or kidnapped for ransom worldwide so far this year, 62 were captured in the Gulf of Guinea – off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon.
A total of nine, and not ten, fishermen were eventually kidnapped from two vessels in Malaysian waters, said ReCAAP ISC in an update in its weekly report for 25 June -1 July. This means that all of the crew have been released an no one remains in captivity.
Nine out of the ten fishermen who were kidnapped in Malaysian waters last week are reportedly free, according to data provided by the ReCAAP ISC. The nine men were brought to Talipao for custody and debrief. One of the abducted crew is still missing.
A group of heavily armed men, suspected to be linked to terrorist group Abu Sayyaf, have kidnapped a total of 10 crew men from two fishing vessels in Malaysian waters, in the early morning hours of Tuesday. The two boats were off Lahad Datu’s Tambisan area and heading towards Semporna.
As a tanker was anchored at Bonny Outer Anchorage, Nigeria, on April 19, pirates boarded the ship. After that, they kidnapped six of the crew members and escaped. According to IMB, the rest of the crew are reported to be safe, while the Nigerian navy was notified and investigations are ongoing.
The “Serviola” patrol boat, during its surveillance and maritime security operation in the Gulf of Guinea, managed to free the crewmembers of a merchant ship held by a group of nine pirates, on April 9. The crew of the Nigerian flag merchant ship had been kidnapped for four days. The pirates also stole the money and all the valuables of its endowment, as well as a significant part of the provisions.
