Six crew members are missing following a reported pirate attack on a Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) vessel off the coast of Benin in West Africa.
According to reports, the 2,668 TEU MSC Mandy was attacked on January 2 2019 in the Gulf of Guinea when the vessel was 55 nautical miles away from Benin.
Ambrey Intelligence, the largest maritime security company in the world, reported the attack on social media. According to Marine Traffic, the vessel has just left Lagos, where it was anchored following the attack.
UPDATE:
Incident | Attack, Kidnapping
Location | 55nm south of Cotonou, Benin
Date | 0000 UTC 02 Jan 2019
Narrative | Panama-flagged MSC Mandy has reportedly been attacked in position 05.28 N – 002.21 E. Six crew are said to have been kidnapped.#piracy #maritime #crime— Ambrey (@AmbreyLtd) January 2, 2019
MSC have been contacted but to respond to PTI’s questions.
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Piracy remains a considerable problem for container shipping, with West Africa, in particular, the Gulf of Guinea, being by far the most dangerous in the world.
A report by the ICC International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre in October 2018 reported 156 attacks on merchant vessels, an increase on the 121 that took place in the first nine months of 2017.
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