Less than 24 hours after reports of attack and abduction by sea pirates on some employees of Agip Oil, another deadly attack has been reported on a Greek tanker Kalamos,
While four employees of the multinational oil company were yet to be found after their abduction along the waterways of southern Ijaw council area in Bayelsa State, reports say one crew member was killed and three were taken as hostages when the Greek tanker was attacked by gunmen last Tuesday at Qua Iboe.
Less than 24 hours after reports of attack and abduction by sea pirates on some employees of Agip Oil, another deadly attack has been reported on a Greek tanker Kalamos,
While four employees of the multinational oil company were yet to be found after their abduction along the waterways of southern Ijaw council area in Bayelsa State, reports say one crew member was killed and three were taken as hostages when the Greek tanker was attacked by gunmen last Tuesday at Qua Iboe.
The Maltese-flagged vessel was enroute from China to Nigeria. It was stricken at Qua Iboe, a sea area between Cameroon and Nigeria, while it was waiting to be loaded.
In an emailed statement, Aeolos Management, managers of the Kalamos Shipping Corporation-owned MT KALAMOS, has confirmed that the vessel was attacked by a criminal gang at 2200 hrs on February 3 while waiting to complete loading at a designated anchorage at Qua Iboe, Nigeria, inside territorial waters. During the attack, one officer sustained gunshot wounds and later passed away while being transferred to a nearby a hospital, the statement said. Two other officers and an AB were taken by the gang and remain unaccounted for, according to the company.
Aeolos added that it is working with the authorities in Nigeria to establish the whereabouts of the missing seafarers and to secure their release.
The statement did not elaborate on how many crew members were onboard the tanker when it was attacked, or their nationalities.
But an update from the Hellenic Coast Guard said that 23 people were aboard the tanker when it was attacked, including 10 Greek nationals. The officer who was killed was also from Greece, as well as two of those kidnapped, the update said.
According to information from Dryad Maritime, a UK-based maritime intelligence firm, the MT Kalamos arrived in Nigeria from Singapore on January 31 and has been anchored approximately 2 nautical miles off the Qua Iboe Terminal, located in the Qua Iboe river estuary in southeastern Nigeria.
“The worrying thing is the fact that it didn’t take long for maritime criminals to recognise the vulnerability of this vessel and to mount an attack within days of the tanker’s arrival with possible tragic consequences and the, hopefully temporary, loss of three of the ship’s crew. All of this just serves to illustrate the dangers of operating off the Niger Delta and the inability of regional security forces to provide a safe operating environment,” said Ian Millen, Chief Operating Officer of Dryad Maritime.
The 281,000 DWT MT Kalamos is flagged in Malta and was built in 2000, she is registered with IMO number 9197832 and MMSI 229776000
Greece’s Deputy Shipping Minister Thodoris Dritsas also had a statement on the dramatic situation, ensuring the public that both the foreign and shipping ministries are working together to save the life of the hostages.
But reacting to the incident, Senior Special Adviser to the President on Maritime; Mr Leke Oyewole denied knowledge of it. He however expressed shock, saying that the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) has only recently acknowledged that pirate attacks dropped in Nigeria in 2014.
“I am not aware of it, I am just coming back, I need time to check”, he told our correspondent.
Similarly, the deputy director, public relations at the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA); Mr Isiche Osamgbi denied knowledge of the attacks.
Shipping Position Daily recalls that,gunmen suspected to be sea pirates also on Tuesday abducted four employees of Agip Oil along the waterways of southern Ijaw council area in Bayelsa State.
Agip is one of the major multinational oil producing companies engaged in offshore oil operations in the Niger Delta.
The abducted workers were said to be traveling in a speedboat from Amasoma to Ogoimbiri when they were stopped and seized. “Their speedboat was double-crossed by gun-wielding men who shot in the air to frighten them,” a security source disclosed.
He said the JTF agents had commenced a search and rescue operation in the creeks in order to secure the release the Agip staff.
“We have started a rescue mission to secure their release and also bring the captors to book,” he said.
But as at press time, there has been no report that the abducted oil workers have been freed or released.
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