Thrice last week, dare-devil pirates struck at different locations within the Nigerian maritime domain, giving credence to her rating as the hotbed of insecurity within the waters of Gulf of Guinea.
The country’s water was also rated as the third most dangerous waters to navigate in, next to Somalia and Indonesia.
On Tuesday, along the Calabar River, 10 armed robbers in two speed boats approached and fired upon a chemical tanker with pilot on board.
Thrice last week, dare-devil pirates struck at different locations within the Nigerian maritime domain, giving credence to her rating as the hotbed of insecurity within the waters of Gulf of Guinea.
The country’s water was also rated as the third most dangerous waters to navigate in, next to Somalia and Indonesia.
On Tuesday, along the Calabar River, 10 armed robbers in two speed boats approached and fired upon a chemical tanker with pilot on board.
Security sources informed Shipping Position Daily that “the ship’s Master raised alarm, mustered all crew and report to the Nigerian Authority. The armed robbers aborted the attack and moved away when the Nigerian Marine Police arrived at the location. All crew safe but ship sustained minor damage due to the firing.
And on the same Tuesday, thus time, in the night, an Offshore Supply Vessel (OSV) Bourbon Arethuse, belonging to French company Bourbon, was attacked by pirates.
The International Maritime Bureau (IMB), also reported that “pirates boarded the OSV which was on standby duties on the Usari field, Nigeria, seeing the pirates, the crew raised the alarm, retreated into the citadel, alerted other vessels and shore based office by VHF and waited until the pirates had left”.
The report however indicated that, no one was hurt in the attack and all crew members are safe, as an after attack investigation showed that the pirates were solely interested in the ship’s and crew belongings.
The rising spate of attacks have however raised fresh fears of a possible increase in premium s paid by ship owners. Significantly, the influential Joint War Committee of Lloyds have indicated that owing to the rise in attacks, losses ranging from $2m to $6m are bein g incurred , apart from attacks and possible death of seafarers
According to the body “There have been continuing attacks off of Benin and Nigeria since mid 2011 resulting in a number of cases where the ship has been hi-jacked and a significant part of the cargo of gasoil has been stolen”
But, pirates also last week released the five Pakistani crew whom they kidnapped from an oil tanker off the coast of Bayelsa state about two weeks ago.
The men, who worked for an oil servicing company, were released unharmed. However, some members of the Ijaw Youth Council (IYC) claimed credit for securing the release of crewmen seized by suspected pirates off Bayelsa coast.
The five Pakistanis are: Rashid Igbal, Wajid Muhammad, Waqas Admed, Mushtag Admed and Mujtaba Ghlum Muhammad, all working for Metrix Energy, an oil services company.
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