Pirates Kidnap 16 Seafarers In Lagos, Gabon Within One Week

Abiola Seun

Dare devil pirates have struck in the last five days, with a total of 16 seafarers kidnapped off the coast of West Africa, marking a continuation of rampant pirate activity in the region.

Ten mariners were kidnapped in an attack reported by Dryad on April 30, when pirates boarded Panama-flagged oil products tanker MT Vemahope some 178 nautical miles south-southeast of Lagos.

According to Dryad, the ship was attacked by a single speedboat with an unknown number of armed individuals on board. Four crew members remained on-board.

“If confirmed, this incident would be the 7th deep offshore incident within the Nigerian EEZ within year 2020. Total incidents in West Africa have thus far tracked 2019 trends almost exactly with a partial fall of only 1 incident seen in 2020 compared to incidents over the same time-frame in 2019,” Dryad said.

On May 3, pirates boarded two fishing trawlers identified as Amerger II & Amerger VII off Libreville, Gabon. One incident occurred at 20nm from shore and the second 36nm from shore.

“Reports suggest that the incident involved a single skiff with three engines and 13 persons on board,” Dryad said, adding that the perpetrators are likely to be from Nigeria.

“It is understood that following the boarding, 6 personnel have been kidnapped, 3 from each vessel. The nationalities of those kidnapped are understood to be 3 Indonesians, 2 Senegalese, 1 South Korean.”

The maritime security firm added that with the latest incident the total number of kidnapped crew in West Africa within 2020 was 48.