Piracy off Libreville, 6 sailors kidnapped

Pirates attacked two fishing vessels off Libreville on Sunday, abducting six crew members, a source close to Gabon’s government told AFP.

“The pirates abducted three Indonesians, two Senegalese and one South Korean,” the source said, without giving further details.

Contacted by AFP on Monday, Gabon’s defence ministry had not yet responded by early evening. This is the second pirate attack recorded since the beginning of the year off the coast of Gabon.

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Source: gabonactu.com

Crew kidnapped off Nigeria

Following an alert issued by MDAT-GoG on April 30th that a MV had been attacked in position 03°30’N 003°49E’ at 1940Z by a skiff with an unknown number of armed pirates, Dryad reports that ten crew were feared kidnapped from a product tanker.

I assume the two incidents are one and the same. SeaTrade Maritime reported the following:

Ten seafarers are reported to have been kidnapped by pirates from the product tanker Vemahope off Nigeria.

An unknown number of pirates in speedboat are reported to have boarded the 6,152 dwt product tanker Vemahope and kidnapped 10 seafarers, according to Dryad Global.

The Greek-owned tanker was 178 nm SSE of Lagos at the time of the incident.

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Italian Navy Deploys Frigate to the Gulf of Guinea while French Navy Suspends Patrol Mission

The Italian Navy (Marina Militare) dispatched for the first time one of its FREMM Frigates to patrol the Gulf of Guinea while the French Navy (Marine Nationale) suspended its maritime security mission off West Africa.

Martin Manaranche

For the first time the French Navy has suspended its permanent Mission Corymbe off West Africa due to the COVID-19 epidemic and withdrawn a vessel from the area.

The patrol vessel Lieutenant de Vaisseau Le Henaff, which started a scheduled deployment in early March for Mission Corymbe, returned to France at the end of the month.

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Source: navalnews.com

Suspected pirates attack passenger boat in Rivers State

By Victor Azubuike

Suspected Sea Pirates terrorizing waterways within Kalabari route have attacked a passenger boat with passengers on board.

Some of the victims including the driver of the boat who identified himself as Sokpabobia Sokari narrated their ordeal to newsmen explaining that they were attacked within Namasebi waterways in Bille community, Degema Local Government Area of Rivers State while returning from Port Harcourt.

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Source: dailypost.ng

Sea Piracy in 2025: Piracy 2.0?

By Francois Morizur

Pirates have demonstrated their ability to revise their modes of operation in response to maritime industry behavior and the responses of coastal states. When looking the Gulf of Guinea, confirmed as the main world maritime piracy hotspot for almost five years, it’s interesting to consider that evolution.

Before 2010, piracy in the Gulf was limited to coastal area less than 30 nautical miles from shore. As ships kept their distance from shore, the pirates improved theirs range of operation with the use of mother vessels but also, very quickly, with new capacity to operate their skiffs without mother vessels out to 100-120 nautical miles from shore. They improved their endurance, safe sailing ability and communication to connect with their targets.

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Source: maritime-executive.com

Pirates leave captured vessel off Benin together with seized Russians

There are no other details at present, Russia’s embassy in Benin said

MOSCOW, April 21. /TASS/. The pirates who boarded the container ship Tommi Ritscher in the Gulf of Guinea have left the vessel together with eight hostages, among whom there are three Russians, a representative of Russia’s embassy in Benin and Togo told TASS on Tuesday.

“The pirates have left the ship and the territorial waters of Benin,” the diplomat said, adding that “there are no other details at present.”

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Source: tass.com

Health worker injured as suspected sea pirates attack passenger boat in Bayelsa

By Emem Idio

Suspected sea pirates over the weekend attacked a passenger boat along the Akasssa-Brass-Nembe waterways in Bayelsa State injuring one health worker returning from a coronavirus sensitization campaign.

The sea pirates shot sporadically, injuring the health worker, who had to stay in water for about forty-five minutes before getting help from security operatives as the driver of the boat managed to escape with other travellers.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

Maritime security: NIMASA, Navy to improve information sharing

Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) and the Nigeria Navy have made arrangements to improve information sharing through their respective security platforms to enhance maritime security in the country.

The NIMASA Command, Control, Computer Communication and Information Centre otherwise known as the C4i Centre of the Deep Blue Project along with the Falcon Eye of the Nigerian Navy are undergoing integration.

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Source: vanguardngr.com

Pirates board containership off Benin, crew held

Marcus Hand

Pirates are reported to have attacked the containership Tommi Ritscher off Cotonou, Benin holding eight of the crew hostage.

The Portuguese-flagged boxship was boarded by an unknown number of people from a speedboat at Zone 3 anchorage, Cotonou, according to Dryad Global.

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Source: seatrade-maritime.com

Navy hands over 3 seized barges to EFCC in Rivers

Three barges allegedly involved in illicit oil deal and seized by the Nigerian Navy may be forfeited to the Federal Government on conclusion of investigation, a naval official said on Thursday.

The barges were allegedly moving unspecified quantity of petroleum product believed to be adulterated diesel before they were seized.

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Source: guardian.ng