An oil tanker was attacked on Sunday in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea and most of its crew were kidnapped, the latest in a string of incidents highlighting the security risks to shipping in the region.
The vessel — an oil products tanker named Duke, hauling fuel oil — was attacked and boarded while sailing from Angola to Togo at 7 a.m. London time on Sunday, its owner, Union Maritime Ltd. said in a statement. One crew member remained on the ship, while the rest were reported missing, the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy-reporting center said in a separate notice.
Acts of piracy on shipping in West Africa have been steadily increasing in recent weeks. Earlier this month 19 sailors were kidnapped from a supertanker off the coast of Nigeria, and four crew members were taken from a smaller Greek tanker docked at a port in Togo in early November.
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Source: Bloomberg
