Piracy Attacks off Nigeria
Chemical tanker seized and the crew kidnapped 90 miles off the Nigerian coast he Standard Club has warned of piracy attacks off West Africa and Nigeria in particular. Previous advice has been to keep well offshore - over 50 miles has been given as a reasonable distance. This would now appear to be insufficient and pirates are ranging further offshore.The latest piracy episode reported on 11 October was of a Marshall Islands chemical tanker seized and the crew kidnapped 90 miles off the Nigerian coast. Only last month an oil tanker was seized and crew kidnapped off the coast of Benin. Previous club advice has been that masters and companies should take anti-piracy precautions as appropriate. The latest version of the Best Management Practice (ver4) or BMP4 is a good guideline to base these anti precautions on.Companies should also consider using secure communications with port authorities and agents when trading in these areas as the pirates also listen to unsecure ship communications.Source: The Standard P&I Club
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