Twelve crew members were kidnapped after the general cargo vessel ‘FWN Rapide’ became subject of a piracy attack in Nigerian waters, in the morning hours of 22 April, according to an official statement by the vessel’s Dutch manager ForestWave. Based on the initial information, the company reported that pirates attacked the ship prior to entering the port of Port Harcourt, Nigeria.
Forestwave have had temporary contact with the remaining crew onboard and is currently in the process of establishing further contact with the ship in order to verify the information. Meanwhile the company is making arrangement to move FWN Rapide to a safe position.
At the time of the incident, the 2005-built ‘FWN Rapide’ was en route from Takoradi, Ghana to Port Harourt. The company’s emergency response team has been activated and ForestWave is in close contact with the authorities to secure earliest release of the crew.
ForestWave would like to stress that the safety of our seafarers is our absolute priority… We are currently in close contact with the authorities and taking professional advice in order to secure the earliest release of those that are currently being held. Together with our local representatives in the countries of origin of our valued seafarers we are keeping the families of the FWN Rapide crew informed about the situation.
Piracy and armed robbery at ships in Africa saw a significant resurgence through 2017, with 66 incidents compared to 43 for the same period in 2017, IMB said in its latest annual report. It is notable that, of the 114 seafarers captured worldwide, all but one were in Gulf of Guinea. Nigeria alone recorded 22 incidents, and of the 11 vessels fired upon worldwide, eight were off Nigeria.
