Pirates Kidnap Five from Cargo Ship Off Nigeria

Photo: Shutterstock / Denys Yelmanov

Pirates purportedly kidnapped five crew members from a cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria on Sunday.

The International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre confirmed that a group of armed pirates board a general a general cargo ship underway around 15nm SW of Bonny Island, Nigeria on July 30. The incident was reported to the Nigerian navy who responded and located the ship. It was reported that some crew members were missing, the IMB report said. The Nigerian navy vessel towed the ship to a safe port for investigation.

Media reported the vessel as the Panama-flagged MV Oya 1. The reports say the pirates abducted two officers and three crew members.

The vessel is the latest to be boarded or fired on by armed pirates off the coast of Nigeria this year. Last month, IMB reported pirates in Nigeria had abducted 31 crew in five reported incidents so far in 2017, not including the five crew members taken on Sunday. Violence against crews also continues to be a concern in the region, with half of all reports of vessels being fired upon worldwide coming from Nigeria.

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