Nigerian Navy Foils Hijack of Maersk Ship
The Nigerian Navy has foiled an attempt by suspected pirates to hijack and abduct 25 foreign nationals aboard a container ship operated by A.P. Moeller-Maersk A/S carrying general cargo to Nigeria with 25 sailors on board, say local media.
Executive Officer of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder Navy Capt. Olusegun Soyemi, said at Onne Port in Rivers State, that the vessel berthed safely with the rescued crew members unharmed.
According to Soyemi, “On Jan. 5 at about 08:00 hours; Safmarine Kuramo was attacked by sea pirates about 60 nautical miles off the coast of Bonny Island (in Rivers) Fairway Bouy. We got may-day distress call that the ship was boarded by unconfirmed number of sea pirates after entering the nation’s territorial waters. We immediately dispatched a warship (NNS Centenary) and attack gunboats led by Navy Capt. Chiedozie Okehie of the Eastern Naval Command to rescue the situation."
The warship successfully forced the pirates to surrender after firing upon the merchant ship’s control room. The navy’s efforts were largely assisted by merchant ship’s captain who provided critical intelligence to the navy while she and her crew were barricaded in the engine room.
Capt Soyemi said the crew members, including the ship’s captain, were of mixed nationalities consisting of eight Philippines, eight South Africans, five Indians, two Britons and two from Thailand.
According to him, Safmarine Kuramo, a Maersk merchant ship registered in Singapore, was transporting general cargo from Port-Noire, Congo, to Onne Sea Port in Rivers.
Investigations are ongoing to ascertain what happened and who carried out the attack, say officials.
The southern Niger River delta region has been a target for former militants, who have recently threatened to restart a rebellion that cut oil output in Africa’s biggest producer by about a quarter between 2006 and 2009. Three pipelines were bombed last month.
