Iran Denies Seizing Korean Ship and Holding Crew Hostage
By Sangmi Cha and Josh Smith SEOUL, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Iran denied on Tuesday it was using a South Korean ship and its crew as hostages, a day after...
IMB Report: 16.01.2013: 2200 LT: Abidjan anchorage, Ivory Coast. A tanker was reported hijacked by pirates. Further details awaited.
LONDON–A vessel hijacked last week off the Ivory Coast has been released after the cargo of 5,000 metric tons of fuel oil was stolen, the ship’s Nigerian manager said Tuesday.
“The entire cargo on board had been discharged while the crew were locked up in the junior officers mess room,” said Jubril Rowaye, chairman at Brila Energy.
The Panamanian-flagged ITRI was seized last Wednesday by gunmen as the vessel was preparing to offload its cargo at the Ivory Coast Port.
The theft highlights the dangers threatening a key transit route along the Gulf of Guinea, where recorded incidents of piracy have more than doubled in the past year, according to a recent report by the International Maritime Bureau.
In October, suspected Nigerian pirates seized an oil tanker off Ivory Coast, 400 miles west of Nigeria, the first hijacking to take place off Ivory Coast.
Sarah Kent (c) 2013 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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