Pirates Steal Cargo from Product Tanker in Western Gulf of Guinea

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Pirates boarded a tanker working as a bunkering vessel in the Gulf of Guinea region and reportedly stole cargo from the ship before leaving. Initial reports had indicated a possible hijacking, but the crew was unharmed and reported safe. Security analysts have raised a warning noting that the incident occurred further west of most of the historic activity in the region with the culprits suspected of departing from Ghana. 

Analysts from Dryad Global are linking the confirmed boarding of the product tanker B. Ocean, a 5,700 dwt vessel operating under the flag of the Marshall Islands, to an earlier warning from MDAT-GOG of irregular activity along the western coast of Ghana. 

The group is suspected to be a criminal group, possibly a pirate action group that is planning to attack vessels at sea. 

The owners of the product tanker lost contact with the vessel later that same day. The vessel was operating from Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire, west of Ghana. The incident was reported when the vessel was silent with no AIS signal for more than 17 hours. Vessels sometimes purposefully turn off their AIS signal in the region to help elude detection from criminals active in the area. 

The boarding of the product tanker and the thief from its cargo was later confirmed. The vessel has resumed transmitting its AIS signal which shows that it has returned to Abidjan.