Pirates Board Cargo Ship and Abduct One Injured Crewmember

Another cargo ship has been attacked in a violent incident of piracy off the coast of West Africa between Nigeria and São Tomé and Príncipe. Details of the incident remain vague, but it is a well-known area for piracy with the authorities warning vessels to use caution while transiting the region.

An unidentified cargo ship was boarded sailing according to the official account approximately 75 nautical miles northwest of Santo Antonio in São Tomé and Príncipe. Security consultants are placing the vessel 118 nautical miles northwest of Bonny, Nigeria.

The master of the vessel which reports said is registered in Curacao was in contact with the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade in the Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) security operation providing updates as the situation unfolded. MDAT-GoG issued an alert reporting the boarding took place Saturday, May 30 although some reports said it started on Friday, May 29.

Initial indications were that seven armed perpetrators boarded the vessel with what appeared to be guns. The majority of the crew mustered in the citadel where they were able to monitor the incident as it unfolded using the vessel’s CCTV system. The perpetrators left the vessel and by May 31 MDAT-GoG was reporting the ship had been searched and confirmed no boarders remained aboard.

One seafarer was reported injured in the incident and in the confusion, it was unclear if it was the first or second engineer. Later reports confirmed it was the second engineer who was also missing, apparently kidnapped by the perpetrators.

The chief engineer of the vessel was later located onboard. The first engineer was among the crew locked in the citadel.

An inspection of the vessel reports the perpetrators also damaged some of the equipment on the bridge. Local authorities boarded the ship to assist the crew and according to the reports were escorting the ship to a port of refuge.

Security analysts have warned that while overall piracy has declined in the Gulf of Guinea, this area has become a hotbed of piracy activity. In April, another vessel reported being boarded and the crew’s belongings and other property were taken while the perpetrators were aboard for four hours. In March, there was a report of shots fired when pirates boarded a bitumen tanker. Family members reported that 10 crewmembers were abducted from the BITU River in that incident.