Pirates attacked a Greek-owned oil tanker off Nigeria Friday but failed to hijack the ship after the crew hid in a safe room, the International Maritime Bureau said.
Pirates attacked a Greek-owned oil tanker off
Nigeria
Friday but failed to hijack the ship after the crew hid in a safe room, the
International Maritime Bureau said.
The tanker was anchored off
Lagos
when
armed pirates boarded early on Friday, said Noel Choong, head of the IMB's
piracy reporting centre in
Kuala Lumpur
.
The 23 crew onboard managed to lock themselves into a safe room and sent out a
distress call that was received by the IMB, which in turn alerted the Nigerian
navy and other warships patrolling the area, Choong said.
At least 21 attacks in the
Gulf
of
Guinea
off
the west coast of
Africa
have taken place this year,
with four vessels hijacked, according to Choong. Two seafarers have been
killed, two injured and three kidnapped, he said.
Nigeria
,
Africa
's
largest oil producer, was targeted in 13 out of the 21 attacks, Choong said.
Unlike in hijackings off the coast of
Somalia
on
the opposite side of the continent, west African gangs have not sought ransoms,
instead unloading cargo onto other ships to sell on the black market.
Nigeria
and
nearby
Benin
launched joint patrols last year to address the problem.
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