Three kidnapped and four killed after piracy attack in Gulf of Guinea

Casualties | 07/01/20 | SAFETY4SEA

Above image is used for illustration purposes only / Credit: Shutterstock / Andrey Polivanov

Three kidnapped and four killed after piracy attack in Gulf of Guinea

On 2 January 2020, a Nigeria-flagged hopper dredger vessel experienced a piracy attack. Specifically, the vessel was sailing in the Gulf of Guinea when three persons reported to be kidnapped and four announced to be killed after the pirate’s invasion.

According to the maritime security consultancy company Dryad Global, the 2,153 GT oil dredger “Ambika” had been invaded when operating three nautical miles from the mouth of Ramos River and nine nautical miles east of the Forcados Terminal in Nigeria.

At first, there was an intense exchange of fire between the embarked security crew of the vessel and the pirates. This resulted the death of four security guards while another two of the personnel sustained injuries.

When the firefight stopped, the pirates had the chance to board into the 1979-build vessel and kidnapped three crew members, two Russian nationals and one Indian, while they left behind five unarmed sailors.

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For the records, this is the first offshore incident reported in this location since November 2018 when a vessel was fired upon.

Incidents within this general area occur with relative regularity however are commonly found within the creeks and rivers. As such, the majority of legacy incidents in this area have focused upon the opportune kidnap of locals and personnel involved in the protection and manning of oil and gas infrastructure.

…Dryad Global noted.

Concluded, the 83.5 meter-long oil dredger is owned by a Lagos-based gas development company which operates upriver from the Ramos River entrance.

Overall, pirates’ attack is a common-seen phenomenon at seas. Several days ago, pirates invaded into the Greek-flagged “Happy Lady” tanker from Limboh port in Cameroon and kidnapped eight crewmembers. At the same time, the 19 kidnapped crewmembers of the “Nave Constellation”, announced that have been released after the pirates’ invasion in the tanker vessel.