De Poli tanker crew released following one month in captivity

Davide B (Photo: MarineTraffic.com/Erwin Willemse)

Netherlands-based De Poli Tankers has confirmed via social media that all 15 seafarers who were abducted by pirates from its vessel Davide B in the Gulf of Guinea on March 11, 2021, have been released and are now safe.

All crewmembers have been receiving medical checks and are in relatively good condition given the difficult circumstances they have been under in the preceding weeks, De Poli said in a statement on Friday, April 16.

The company added that the freed sailors are being repatriated to their respective home countries.

The kidnapping occurred while Davide B was 210 nautical miles off Cotonou, Benin, with a final destination of Lagos, Nigeria, on March 11. Only six of the tanker’s crew were able to avoid being abducted.


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