The Nigerian Navy intercepted and rescued a tanker, Monjasa Reformer, with 10 crew members off Principe Island on March 31, The PUNCH reported.
Nigerian Navy Information Director Commodore Adedotun Ayo-Vaughan revealed in an official military report obtained by our reporter on Tuesday that the pirates had fled with six of the 16 crew members.
Ayo-Vaughan announced that the MT Monjasa Reformer, IMO number 9255878, was attacked and boarded by hackers around 23:39 (Nigerian time) on March 25 in Pointe-Noire, DRC.
He added that the ship was about 95 nautical miles from Etam station at the time of the attack, adding that the pirates used a closed sailboat to board the ship by force and took 16 of its crew hostage.
According to him, the Navy took action after receiving the incident, which was referred to the Nigerian Navy from the West African Maritime Security Center in Abidjan, Ivory Coast.
Ayo Vaughan said: “Nigeria’s marine surveillance infrastructure has been used to search, locate and track the vessel, although the pirates have disabled the onboard automatic identification system and communications suite.
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“It must be emphasized that the hijacked ship is registered in Liberia but is owned by the Danish Monjasa Chartering III.
He further noted that the Nigerian Navy was working with a French Navy vessel, Premier-Maitre L’her, which was patrolling the Gulf of Guinea (under the Coordinated Naval Presence Arrangement) and discovered the hijacked vessel.
He added that Nigerian Navy officials ordered their ship NNS Gongola to intercept the ship as it approached the Nigerian marine environment and rescued the crew members taken hostage.
According to him, the hijacked oil tanker was intercepted by the NNS Gongola at a distance of 76 nautical miles from the island of Príncipe.
Ayo Vaughan added: “However, it was discovered that the pirates, with six crew members, had disembarked at an undisclosed destination while traveling through the exclusive economic zone of São Tomé and Príncipe.
Recognizing the need to protect the ship and ensure its safe arrival at its destination, the Nigerian Navy deployed the NNS Kano accompanied by the French naval patrol ship to escort the ship to Lomé, Togo.
