Nigerian Pirates Attack Accommodation Barge, 4 Seafarers Kidnapped

NASA Space Shuttle Overflight photo of the Niger Delta, courtesy of NASA.

Sea Trucks Group, a Netherlands-based offshore supply and support vessel owner, confirmed that four of its sea-going staff were kidnapped in a violent attack offshore Nigeria this morning.  Two security guards on board the accommodation barge, the Jacson 33, were wounded in the attack which occurred just after midnight, approximately 35 nautical miles offshore Bonny, Nigeria.

“The two remaining injured security personnel are now in Port Harcourt hospital for treatment,” Sea Trucks spokeswoman Corrie van Kessel said in a statement to the AFP.  “At this time, Sea Trucks Group is making every effort to ascertain the whereabouts of its personnel,” she continued.

Nigerian navy spokesman Commodore Kabir Aliyu commented that those kidnapped were from Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia and Thailand.  “We have not made any arrest yet. We are still trying to ascertain the true identities of the attackers and their motive,” he told AFP earlier today.  “We are still searching. We have deployed a boat and a helicopter to the area where the the attack took place,” he said, adding: “We have not established any contact with the attackers or the foreigners abducted.”

Kidnapping and ransom activities are a weekly occurrence in this volatile region where the delta between rich and poor is extremely vast.  Roughly 2 million barrels of oil each day are produced from the Niger Delta region.

*UPDATE* Reports indicate the 2 security personnel have died of their injuries

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