The hijacked ship was found abandoned, but an unknown number of crew members are still missing.
Pirates abandoned a Danish-owned vessel that was hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea last week, but took some crew members and others to safety, the ship’s owner says.
The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker Monjasa Reformer was boarded by five militants on Saturday 225km (140 miles) west of Port Pointe Noire in the Republic of Congo, shipowner Monjasa said at the time. . There were 16 crew members on board.
The reformer then went missing but was later found by the French Navy off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe, Monjasa said Friday.
“Our thoughts are with the missing crew members and their families during this stressful time,” the company said. “Monjasa will continue to work closely with local authorities to help the crew return safely to their families.”
All rescued crew members are healthy and No damage was reported to the ship or its cargo, it said.
Rated by the International Maritime Authority as one of the world’s most dangerous sea lanes, the Gulf of Guinea covers 11,000 square kilometers (4,247 square miles) and stretches from Angola to Senegal.
According to the UN Security Council, from 2021 onwards, piracy incidents will decrease due to the cooperation of countries in the region and the deployment of foreign vessels.
Denmark, which has a big interest in commercial shipping, deployed a frigate in the Gulf to protect shipping in 2021, but the ship was removed last year after the outbreak of the Ukraine war.
In November 2021, a Danish Navy patrol killed four pirates in a shootout just outside Nigeria’s territorial waters.
