Pirates kidnap 10 crew from product tanker in Gulf of Guinea

Dryad Global reports that a group of pirates had boarded a product tanker in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Nigeria and abducted 10 of its crew on Thursday, April 30.

The unauthorised boarding of the Panamanian-flagged Vemahope occurred at around 19:30 local time at a point 116 nautical miles south of the West Agbami Oil Terminal in Lagos.

The number of perpetrators remains unknown. However, the incident report claims only a single speedboat had been used in the attack and subsequently fled the scene with the pirates and the 10 hostages on board.

Only four of Vemahope‘s crew remained aboard the vessel following the incident, which is said to be the seventh pirate attack to occur in Nigerian waters since the beginning of the year.

The tanker was en route from Lome, Togo, to Cameroon’s Moudi Terminal when the attack took place.