Ghana’s navy has freed a tnker ship hijacked off the coast of Nigeria and arrested eight pirates believed to be responsible for seizing it, a military spokesman said on Sunday.
Pirate attacks have increased in West Africa in recent years, jacking up insurance costs for shipping companies. Experts say gangs based in the waters off Africa’s top oil producer Nigeria are extending their reach across the region’s Gulf of Guinea.
Ghana’s navy has freed a tnker ship hijacked off the coast of Nigeria and arrested eight pirates believed to be responsible for seizing it, a military spokesman said on Sunday.
Pirate attacks have increased in West Africa in recent years, jacking up insurance costs for shipping companies. Experts say gangs based in the waters off Africa’s top oil producer Nigeria are extending their reach across the region’s Gulf of Guinea.
Colonel Aggrey Quarshie would not say when the MT Mariam was seized by pirates. The small tanker’s owners, using an onboard tracking device, informed Ghanaian authorities of its position in Ghanaian waters on Saturday.
“The Ghana Navy responded swiftly with a patrol team to the area and they were able to overpower the pirates and free the ship. But when they got there, the cargo had already been transferred to another vessel,” Quarshie told Reuters.
It was not immediately clear what cargo the ship was transporting. Its crew members were unharmed, Quarshie added.
The pirates, armed with weapons including AK-47 rifles, were arrested and handed over to Ghana’s Bureau of National Investigations. Cash was also recovered during the operation.
“They are all suspected to be Nigerians,” Quarshie added.
All eight pirates, identified to be Nigerians have been brought ashore at Tema pending further investigations. They are Molih Williams, 32; Peggy Aki, 32; Ebiyaibo Amos, 32 and Molih Klinsman, 31.The rest are David Jacob, 30; Ayetimiyi Oyinle, 29; Pinamo Samiyo, 26 and Picolo John, 25.
How they were arrested
Security sources hinted that, the arrest was facilitated by the owner of MT Mariam; Mr Nakase Sunday who also told journalists in Tema that the hijacking occurred at 5:00 am on January 11, 2014 at Warri in Nigeria, adding that the vessel contains approximately 1,500 metric tomes of crude oil when it was captured by the pirates.
According to him, the hijackers seized the vessel and allegedly drained it of its oil.
Mr. Nakase said the ship was en route to Togo when it was captured. He said he immediately flew into Ghana last Friday after he had detected via a tracking system that the ship had drifted into the Ghanaian waters and quickly approached the Ghana Navy for assistance.
He was full of commendation to the Ghana Navy for the swift response which led to the capture of all the pirates and saving the lives of his crew and vessel, adding that though the products were lost, he was glad the crew and vessel were safe.
The Navy crew retrieved an amount of $1,270 and 43,850 Naira as well as four AK 47 assault rifles, ten fully loaded AK47 magazines with a total of 300 rounds of ammunition, one pump action gun, 18 mobile phones, one digital camera, one hair clipper, three hand held VHF radio, seven wrist watches and other personal belongings from the pirates.
MT Mariam has since docked at the Tema Port and is under armed guard.
Lt Commander Michael Duvor, Commanding Officer of GNS Blika, said while on operational duties on Saturday, they received information on a pirate attack on MT Mariam from the Acting Command Operations Officer, Lt Commander Theophilus Kafui Agbemabiase.
He said the crew set sail at about 8:05 am and on arrival deployed a search team into the ship who conducted a thorough search of the vessel. According to him, the pirates went into hiding and a search led to the arrest of five in the engine room and another three in the forecastle section of the vessel.
He said the Navy crew boarded MT Mariam at 11:40 am and completed the operation at 3:00 pm.
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