Pirates have stormed an oil supply vessel off the coast of
southern Nigeria and kidnapped the ship's captain and
chief engineer, both US citizens, a private security firm and
US officials said Thursday.
A US-flagged C-Retriever owned by American oil servicing
company Edison Chouest Offshore was attacked on
Wednesday by armed men who stormed the boat off the
city of Brass, said AKE, a London headquartered private
security firm.
"Both the chief engineer and the captain were kidnapped,"
Richard Fylon of AKE said. "They are both American."
US officials said it was not a terrorist act, but were
concerned about the rise in piracy off West Africa. In
kidnaps in the region, crew members are normally freed
unharmed after any oil on board the ships is stolen.
Gunmen attacked the C Retriever, an oil supply vessel, near
the coastal town of Brass in Nigeria's oil rich Bayelsa
State. The chief engineer and the captain, both American
citizens, were kidnapped. The vessel and 11 other
members of the crew were reportedly released. US State
Department Deputy Spokeswoman Marie Harf said Wednesday's
incident was being treated as "an act of piracy" rather than
terrorism.
US defence officials in Washington, who requested
anonymity, confirmed the details. An official at AKE's
Lagos office told AFP this was the first reported
kidnapping of US nationals around the oil-producing Niger
Delta region in at least two years.
The official, who requested anonymity, said the same area
was attacked by pirates earlier this week, but that there
appeared to have been no increase in naval patrols
operating in the area. Security forces in the Niger Delta
and the Nigerian navy did not answer calls seeking
comment.
Lucrative crime'
White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters: "We
are concerned by the disturbing increase in the incidence
of maritime crime, including incidents of piracy off the
coast of West Africa, specifically in the Gulf of Guinea."
Oil servicing ships have been struck repeatedly in recent
months around the Gulf of Guinea, which includes the
waters off Nigeria, Togo, Benin and parts of Ghana. The
International Maritime Bureau has recorded more than 40
attacks in the area this year with 132 crew taken hostage.
The gangs usually target the oil vessels to steal the cargo.
"Pirate networks in the Gulf of Guinea are focusing on
product theft from tankers and this relatively new type of
crime has evolved into a unique and highly lucrative form
of maritime crime," said the Risk Intelligence security firm,
in its October report .
It is estimated that oil product worth approximately
$100m (approximately £62m) has been stolen since 2010.
In recent months there have been numerous kidnappings of
foreign oil workers and wealthy Nigerians, especially in the
oil-producing Niger Delta region. They have often been held
until a ransom payment is made.
Sailors of varying nationalities have been taken hostage,
but typically released days or weeks later. Most analysts
say that ransoms are paid in such cases, but the
companies involved and Nigerian officials rarely comment
on payments to kidnappers.
Text culled from Africanoutlookonline
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