VANCOUVER – Pirates have taken the captain and chief engineer of a U.S.-flagged oil supply ship hostage off the coast of Nigeria.
A U.S. Dept. of Defense official confirmed to The Associated Press on Thursday the attack happened in the Gulf of Guinea Wednesday afternoon.
The pirates released 11 other members of the crew, but took the captain and chief engineer off the 68-metre vessel — called the C-Retriever. CNN later reported the vessel had been released.
The condition of the sailors and the ship is unknown according to The Associated Press, and it’s unclear if the pirates are demanding a ransom.
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The waters off the coast of West African countries — Nigeria in particular — have become a piracy hot spot in the last few years, even more so than off the coast of Somalia.
This year alone, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) documented 29 reported piracy incidents off the coast of Nigeria, including two hijackings.
By comparison, Somalia’s coast has seen only 11 reported incidents, two of them hijackings.
(A screen grab of the International Maritime Bureau’s live piracy and armed robbery map, pinpointing reported attacks off Africa in 2013)
In an interview with Global News earlier this month, IMB director Pottengal Mukundan said the type of piracy practiced off Nigeria — Africa’s top oil-producing nation — is often robbery.
But Mukundan added kidnappings are known to happen farther out to sea.
Mukundan said once that is done the pirates release the ship and the crew, usually within about seven to 10 days.
“The Gulf of Guinea accounted for all crew kidnappings worldwide, 32 of them off Nigeria, and two off Togo,” IMB said on its website.
As much as the pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea — including ones have been on the rise, piracy is actually on the decline worldwide. IMB reports 2013 has seen the lowest number of attacks in the last seven years.
*With files from The Associated Press
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