Location of the kidnapping, approx 85 nm offshore Nigeria
A spokesman from Carisbrooke Shipping has confirmed that their multi-purpose bulk carrier, the British-flagged Esther C, has been attacked by pirates 85 nautical miles south-southwest of Port Harcourt, Nigeria at position 002 54.6N 006 02.4E. The company has confirmed that 3 crew members have been kidnapped and the pirates have left the ship. The remaining nine crew members remain on the vessel and are believed to be unharmed, the company said. Two of those taken hostage are believed to be Russian.
The Esther C is currently underway to rendezvous with another of Carisbrooke’s ships.
Image via peter.beentjes
The incident is at least the fourth attack carried out by suspected Nigerian pirates in the region this week.
On Sunday, a French tanker was hijacked by pirates off the Ivory Coast and was reported released days later after the pirates took the vessel to Nigerian waters and stole some of the ship’s cargo. On Tuesday, 3 people were killed by gunmen during an attack on a barge in the Niger Delta. And later on Wednesday, news broke that a Filipino crewmember aboard the chemical tanker, Pyxis Delta, was shot and killed Monday during an attack by pirates at Lagos Anchorage, Nigeria.
We will update as more information becomes available…
Well, this will stop when sovereign nation-states guarantee safe passage on the high seas — just as they did three hundred years ago — and not before. "Economic justifications" for piracy are phony.
I'm in the same waters.
Oo la la pasop
be the lord will guide with his eye we are praying for ur safe return mwah brian an veronica stiek uit
be the lord will guide you with his eye we are praying for ur safe return mwah brian an veronica stiek uit
British vessel today, French vessel a few days ago. These guys are asking for trouble. Noting that West Africa is part of the golden triangle for oil exploration (a locus of real eceonomic activity unlike the wasteland that is Somalia), I would expect to be reading about some “responses” to these acts of piracy before too long.
Until when the Goverments. going to stop this. As a Seaman I do recomend to all the sailors. to carry weapons on board the merchant vessels. to defend themsels. do not trust on UN. or any other goverment they do Sh….. againts pirates. the only one. pay attention to your citizens is US.
Until when the Goverments. going to stop this. As a Seaman I do recomend to all the sailors. to carry weapons on board the merchant vessels. to defend themsels. do not trust on UN. or any other goverment they do Sh….. againts pirates. the only one. pay attention to your citizens is US.
The third crewmember is a romanian, the other two are russians. Captain, C/O and C/E.
As a concerned mother of a sailor I strongly believed that these vessels should have a powerful weapon on board to protect themselves from these criminals especially when they know that they are cruising in dangerous waters like Africa.