Abduction of six Turkish seamen emphasises rising kidnap and ransom risk by Nigerian pirates in Gulf of Guinea

EVENT Owners of the chemical tanker MT Puli have confirmed that six Turkish seamen, including the captain, chief officer and chief engineer, were kidnapped by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea in the early hours of 11 April. The vessel was sailing from Gabon to Côte d'Ivoire when it was boarded around 90 nautical miles off Nigeria's oil capital, Port Harcourt. The incident is the sixth successful kidnapping recorded by IHS in the Gulf of Guinea since the start of 2016, involving 22 crew members in total. This does not include the unspecified number of crew aboard the chemical tanker MT Maximus , hijacked off Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire, on 11 February, and successfully stormed by Nigerian naval special forces in Nigerian waters nine days later, freeing the crew.