The Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Georgia informed that the ship ‘Pantelena’ sailing under a Panamanian flag with 17 Georgian sailors on board has been missing since August 14.
Contact with the lost ship, which was transporting oil, was last established while it was sailing near the west coast of Africa, in Guinea Bay.
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The owner of the ship, Greek company Lotus Shipping, is carrying out an investigation while the Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs together with the Maritime Transport Agency is cooperating with the company to help the investigation process.
The Ministry is also working with the Panama Flag organisation. Regional military forces as well as UK’s maritime center UKMTO are also involved in the process.
According to ICC International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) second quarterly report, all 2018 crew kidnappings have taken place in the Gulf of Guinea in six separate incidents.
However, the report mentions that the true number of incidents in the Gulf of Guinea is believed to be significantly higher than what is reported.
