Istanbul, Jan. 24, (dpa/GNA) – One person was killed and 15 others kidnapped when pirates attacked a container ship in the Gulf of Guinea, Turkish state news agency Anadolu reported on Sunday.
The abducted crew members are reportedly from Turkey, while the man killed was from Azerbaijan.
The pirates, who attacked the vessel on Saturday around 300 kilometres off the Nigerian coast, have since departed the ship, the report said.
The freighter is now docked in Port-Gentil in the central African state of Gabon with three remaining crew members on board, according to Turkish sources.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has spoken to the ship’s captain on the phone, according to his office.
The ship, which sails under a Liberian flag, had been en route from the Nigerian capital Lagos to Cape Town in South Africa.
The Istanbul-based shipping company confirmed the attack, according to Anadolu.
According to data from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), there were 195 pirate attacks on vessels last year – 33 more than in 2019. The Gulf of Guinea, the Singapore Strait and Indonesian waters were particularly affected.
