The Gulf of Guinea has once again been the venue for piracy following an attack which led to the deaths of several military personnel and the kidnapping of crew members, according to reports cited by maritime security intelligence experts Dryad Global.
Four military guards were killed and three crew members – two Russians and one Indian – taken hostage from the Ambika, an oil dredger approximately nine miles east of the Forcados terminal in the mouth of the Ramos River, Nigeria.
Reports suggest that the attack saw a firefight between the assailants and the security personnel aboard the vessel.
Piracy in the region is relatively common and it is routinely cited as the most dangerous in the world for commercial shipping.
In 2018 35 seafarers were kidnapped from vessels in the region, including 11 from the Dutch cargo vessel FWN Rapide, the highest number taken that year in a single attack.
According to Dryad Global The hijacking and theft of vessels is common because they represent a “low-risk option” and are a valuable source of income and resources.
However, according to Dryad Global, offshore incidents such as this one are relatively rare.
