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Movement For The Emancipation Of The Niger Delta News

20 Oct 2016

Crew Kidnapping Persists Despite Piracy Slowdown -Report

Despite a decline of piracy activity in several high-risk areas, a high threat of crew kidnapping and hijacking remains in Southeast Asia and West Africa, according to a recent report from specialist crisis prevention and response consultancy NYA International. Overall piracy activity in the third quarter of 2016 declined in global hotspots compared to the previous quarter, as Southeast Asia and the East Africa and Indian Ocean High Risk Area (HRA) both saw drops in reported piracy incidents, and West Africa notably experienced a drop in severe incidents such as attacks and hijackings, according to NYA’s Q3 2016 Piracy Assessment. In West Africa, piracy activity in Q3 2016 declined in severity compared to the previous quarter, when 16 attacks and nine hijackings were reported.

03 May 2016

Pirates Switch to Kidnapping Crew as Oil Fetches Less

Pirate gangs in West Africa are switching to kidnapping sailors and demanding ransom rather than stealing oil cargoes as low oil prices have made crude harder to sell and less profitable, shipping officials said on Tuesday. Attacks in the Gulf of Guinea - a significant source of oil, cocoa and metals for world markets - have become less frequent partly due to improved patrolling but also to lower oil prices, according to an annual report from the U.S. foundation Oceans Beyond Piracy (OBP), which is backed by the shipping industry. "They have had to move towards a faster model and that faster model is kidnappings," OBP's Matthew Walje said, noting that ransom payouts were as high as $400,000 in one incident.

26 Apr 2016

Turkish Crew Freed Two Weeks after Kidnap by Pirates off Nigeria

Six Turkish members of a cargo ship's crew who were kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Nigeria two weeks ago have been released and are safely back in Istanbul, a lawyer for the shipping company said on Tuesday. "The six of them have been released and are back in Istanbul. All are in good health," said Fehmi Ulgener, a lawyer for the shipping firm Kaptanoglu Denizcilik. He declined to say whether or not a ransom had been paid. The Turks, who included the M/T Puli's captain, chief officer and chief engineer, were abducted some 90 miles off Nigeria on April 11. Other members of the crew were left onboard, unharmed. The tanker was carrying liquid chemical fuels and was travelling to Cameroon, the Turkish newspaper Hurriyet reported.

12 Apr 2016

Pirates Kidnap Ship off Nigeria with 6 Turkish Crewmen

Six crew members  of a Turkish cargo ship have been kidnapped by pirates in the Niger Delta, according to Nigerian Navy spokesman, Chris Ezekobe. The ship carrying chemicals was believed to be travelling from Gabon to Ivory Coast. The pirates attacked the ship late at night as it was sailing close to the oil-rich Niger Delta. “All the six Turkish crew members, including the captain of the vessel, the chief officer and the chief engineer, were abducted by the attackers,” Ezekobe confirmed. The spokesman said the navy was going to board the vessel to speak to other crew members. Turkey’s Deniz News Agency said the ship, the M/T Puli, was owned by Kaptanoglu Shipping. Both the kidnapped crew and those who remained on the ship, were “in good health”, the company was reported as saying.

11 Apr 2016

Pirates Kidnap Six Crew from Tanker off Nigeria

Six Turkish members of a cargo ship's crew have been kidnapped by pirates off the coast of Nigeria, a spokesman for the Nigerian navy said on Monday. The crew members of the merchant tanker M/T Puli were abducted some 90 miles from the coast at around 1:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) on Monday, navy spokesman Chris Ezekobe said. "Six crew members were abducted. They included the captain, the chief officer and chief engineer," Ezekobe said. The spokesman said the navy was going to board the vessel to speak to other crew members. Last month, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea agreed to establish combined patrols to bolster security in the Gulf of Guinea. The gulf is a significant source of oil, cocoa and metals for world markets, but pirates pose a threat to shipping companies.

16 Mar 2016

Nigeria, Equatorial Guinea Sign Maritime Security Agreement

Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea signed an agreement to establish combined patrols to bolster security in the Gulf of Guinea, which has been plagued by piracy in the last few years, a spokesman for Nigeria's president said on Wednesday. Garba Shehu said the agreement, which comes amid the backdrop of a rise in pipeline attacks in the oil-producing Niger Delta region of Africa's biggest crude producer, was signed late on Tuesday by Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari. Pirate attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea, a significant source of oil, cocoa and metals for world markets, pose a threat to shipping companies. Pirates target oil tankers, usually wanting hostages for ransom and to sell stolen fuel.

05 Feb 2015

Oil Tankers Run Gauntlet in Nigeria's 'Pirate Alley'

Photo: Edward Stegle

A pirate attack that killed a supertanker crewman off the coast of Nigeria this week has highlighted a growing threat off oil-rich West Africa, as vessels carrying millions of barrels of crude traverse a region that has become known as "pirate alley". The 2 million barrel Kalamos Very Large Crude Carrier (VLCC) was heading to Nigeria's main oil terminal when it was attacked late on Monday, leaving the ship's Greek deputy captain dead and three crew members taken hostage. Security experts say the waters off Nigeria are now the deadliest on earth…

23 Jun 2008

Shell Deepwater Platform Attacked

An attack by armed separatists in speedboats has forced Royal Dutch Shell to shut down its biggest offshore oil production unit in , removing a tenth of the Opec state's output. The raid on Bonga, a floating oil production and storage facility 120km offshore, has caught Nigeria's foreign oil operators by surprise. The deep water installations in the were previously thought to be beyond the reach of the militant groups that continue to harass and disrupt oil production in the swamps of the Niger Delta. The attack was aimed at Bonga but the militants also attacked two drilling rigs and three supply vessels in the area. The American captain of one supply vessel, under contract for Chevron, was taken hostage.

22 Feb 2006

Kidnappers Attack Plant, Navy Ship

Militants holding nine foreign hostages in southern Nigeria attacked another oil facility today and blew up a military vessel in ongoing violence that has cut about 20 percent of crude production in Africa's oil giant. The Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta attacked a Shell-operated pipeline switching station and a navy vessel in the oil-rich southern region. Nigeria is reeling from weekend attacks in which militants blasted pipelines and sabotaged a key oil loading terminal belonging to Royal Dutch Shell, forcing the company to halt the flow of about 455,000 barrels a day. (Source: Scotsman)