On March 25, out of 16 crew members aboard a Liberian tanker, Monjasa Reformer, six were taken hostage by pirates who boarded the vessel.
The attack took place to the southwest of Port Pointe-Noire, Congo, but the vessel was discovered five days later off the small island of Sao Tome and Principe, located north of the area where the incident occurred.
The Danish company that owns the vessel, represented by spokesperson Thorstein Andreasen, said that the pirates had left the tanker after taking some of the crew members hostage.
After the pirates boarded the ship, the crew reportedly made their way to the citadel, a designated safe area according to anti-piracy emergency protocol, but a few members were nevertheless taken hostage.
The remaining crew members contacted a French Navy vessel after the incident to report the abduction of their six mates. The French Navy team arrived quickly and treated three crew members with minor injuries. The company also confirmed that the other crew members were in good condition and were receiving necessary care in a secure location.
Andreasen reported that the ship and its cargo had not suffered any damage during the attack. The Monjasa Reformer was transporting oil products, including marine gas oil and sulphur fuel oil, and was part of Monjasa’s global marine fuels operations in West Africa.
This is not the first time that piracy has occurred in the Gulf of Guinea, though this attack took place further south than usual. The region has been plagued by piracy for years, and the United Nations Security Council has previously condemned such incidents in the area.
Following the incident involving the Dutch vessel, Singapore reported that a tanker had vanished after being commandeered by pirates last week in the Gulf of Guinea.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) announced that it had obtained a report stating that the Success 9, an oil tanker registered in Singapore, was occupied by unknown individuals approximately 300 nautical miles from the coast of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire on Monday, April 10. According to the Singapore MPA, it is believed that the crew consists of 20 members of different nationalities.