Pirates have kidnapped 12 crew members from a Swiss cargo vessel off the coast of Nigeria.
Massoel Shipping said the MV Glarus was attacked while transporting wheat from Lniagos to Port Harcourt when it was attacked 45 nautical miles from Bonny Island in the Niger Delta, taking 12 of its 19 crew hostage, according to the BBC.
A spokesman for Massoel said the pirates “destroyed much of the vessel's communications equipment”, and that the crew members’ families are being closely informed.
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Switzerland’s foreign ministry confirmed that none of the hostages are Swiss.
Seven of them are from the Philippines, with the others nationals of Slovenia, Ukraine, Romania, Croatia and Bosnia, according to Reuters, which quotes Nigeria’s maritime agency.
The Niger Delta, in particular the Gulf of Guinea, is the most dangerous area in the world for merchant ships.
Nigerian pirates kidnapped 35 seafarers in the first 6 months of 2018.
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