A bulk carrier was chased down and boarded by pirates off Brass, Nigeria on April 7, 2018.
The bulk carrier was sailing around 41 nautical miles south-southeast from Brass when four pirates in a speedboat armed with guns caught up with the tanker and came on board.
The crew managed to raise alarm and mustered in the citadel, the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre informed.
Nigerian Navy was notified and sent a patrol boat to the location. Once aware of the naval presence the pirates escaped the ship.
Before leaving the ship, pirates fired upon and damaged the ship’s equipment and accommodation. The perpetrators stole the ship’s cash and properties.
Once on the spot, naval personnel boarded the ship, rescued the crew and escorted the ship to a safe port, according to IMB.
IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre recorded 66 incidents in the first quarter of 2018, up from 43 for the same period in 2017. Worldwide in the first three months of 2018, 100 crew were taken hostage and 14 kidnapped from their vessels.
Nigeria alone recorded 22 incidents. Of the 11 vessels fired upon worldwide, eight were off Nigeria – including a 300,000 MT deadweight VLCC tanker more than 40nm off Brass.
2018年4月7日，一艘散裝船被尼日利亞 Brass 海盜追上並登船。
當一艘快艇上的四名持槍海盜追上並登船時，這艘散貨船正在從 Brass 向東南方向行駛約41海浬。
IMB秘密舉報中心通報說，機組人員設法求救並集結在船上安全處。
尼日利亞海軍接到通知並派遣一艘巡邏艇前往該地點。一旦發現到海軍的存在，海盜就逃離了這艘船。
在離開這艘船之前，海盜們開槍並損壞了船上的設備和住處。肇事者偷走了船上的現金和財產。
IMB表示，一旦到達現場，海軍人員就登上了這艘船，救出了船員並將船護送到一個安全的港口。
IMB的秘密舉報中心在2018年第一季度記錄了 66起事件，比2017年同期的43起。2018年頭三個月，全球範圍內有100名船員被扣為人質，14名船員被綁架。
僅尼日利亞就發生了22起事件。在全球範圍內受攻擊的11艘船中，有8艘是在尼日利亞 - 其中包括一艘30萬噸級的VLCC油輪，距離Brass超過40海浬。
Imformation Source: World Maritime News Staff
Image Courtesy: World Maritime News
