Pirates Abduct Eleven from Container Ship

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Pirates have seized 11 crew members from the container ship Pomerenia Sky off the coast of Nigeria.

Those abducted include eight from Poland, two Filipinos and a Ukrainian. Nine crew members remain on board the vessel and are reportedly unharmed, and the vessel has sailed to safety. The region has seen a spate of attacks. On October 17, a product tanker at anchorage off Lagos was approached by armed pirates. They halted their attempt at boarding when detected. Two pirates boarded another tanker on October 14 but jumped overboard and escaped when the alarm was raised by the crew. The second quarterly report from the ICC International Maritime Bureau, released in July, states that six separate incidents of crew kidnapping had occurred so far in 2018, involving 25 crew members, all in the Gulf of Guinea. The Bureau highlights the area as high-risk and states that the true number of incidents in the Gulf of Guinea may be significantly higher than reported. According to Oceans Beyond Piracy, 100 seafarers were kidnapped in the waters off the Gulf of Guinea last year.