By TOLA ADENUBI, Lagos

Suspected maritime pirates on Monday kidnapped five Ghanaians from the Ghanaian flagged general cargo vessel AM DELTA with IMO number 9015929 at 35 nautical miles off the Agbano Terminals in the Niger Delta area.

In an advisory notice issued on Monday to nearby vessels by both the United Kingdom-based maritime consultancy firm, Dryad Global, and the Italian maritime consultancy firm, Praesidium International; the Ghanaian flagged vessel was boarded by six to seven pirates on the 16th of November 2020 at 44 nautical miles South Brass.

According to the advisory notice, “Report indicates that the Ghanaian flagged general cargo vessel AM DELTA (IMO9015929) has been boarded resulting in the kidnap of 5 crew.

“The vessel is understood to have been boarded by 6 – 7 pirates. The kidnapped crew are all believed to be Ghanaians. Further reporting indicates that the perpetrators have damaged the onboard communications and navigation equipment. The vessel is believed to be drifting with two crew on board.

“This is the 9th incident within November alone. This latest incident takes the total volume of kidnapped personnel from vessels within the Gulf of Guinea to 115 across 22 incidents within 2020.

“This incident occurred closer to shore than the majority of incidents in 2020 which have thus far reflected the developed trend of incidents at the 80+nautical mile range. It is within a high traffic area that saw a large cluster of incidents in both 2018 and 2019. Following a spate of unsuccessful attacks on vessels previously it is highly likely that the perpetrators sought to return to areas of known traffic density and opportunistic targets.

“The boarding by armed perpetrators reinforces the critical risk rating in the Gulf of Guinea HRA after 7 incidents of unsuccessful approaches and attacks in the past week including two successful kidnappings in the last 4 days.

“As a result of the geographic spread of incidents throughout November, it was assessed as a realistic possibility that the incidents were perpetrated by more than one PAG or indeed two teams operating as part of the same PAG.

“With this being the second successful kidnapping within 4 days in areas that broadly reflect previous activity in November, the immediate risk to vessels may subside slightly. This however should not result in any change in security posture.” (Nigerian Tribune)

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