The video, published by CdM Portal, illustrates an attempted piracy attack against a a container ship on December 7. The pirates tried to get onboard the ship, but failed as the vessel performed evasive maneuvers, thus preventing the attack.
The eight pirates were allegedly armed with AK 47 rifles when they tried to get onboard the ship, but failed to do so.
The crewmembers of the container ship were reported safe.
This incident is another example of the dangerous situation that is occurring in the Gulf of Guinea.
Prior to this piracy attack, pirates had approached crude oil tanker off Nigeria, on 1st of November, while in October eight pirates boarded the container ship ‘Demeter’ and kidnapped six crewmembers.
According to an IMB report, a total of 20 reports against all vessel types were received for Nigeria, in 2017, 16 of which occurred off the coast of Brass, Bonny and Bayelsa. Guns were reportedly used in 18 of the incidents and vessels were underway in 17 of 20 reports. 39 of the 49 crewmembers kidnapped globally occurred off Nigerian waters in seven separate incidents. Other crew kidnappings in 2017 have been reported 60 nautical miles off the coast of Nigeria.
These attacks made some shipping firms spend over $45 million per year, in order to escort their vessels while they sail in Nigerian waters.
