Many independent news reports are suggesting that at least six crew members from the containership ‘Tonsberg’ have been kidnapped in the Gulf of Guinea, with another being treated for a gun shot wound to the leg.
The 5,500 teu CMA CGM vessel is believed to have been boarded on Monday afternoon, as it crossed the Gulf, just west of Gabon.
The pirates are believed to have left the scene just before a Danish Navy helicopter arrived. Travelling by speed boat, the kidnappers headed north towards Nigeria with the crew members on board.
During the past couple of years, the Gulf of Guinea has cemented a position as the world’s piracy hotspot, following a series of hijackings and kidnappings and the death of at least one crew member.
Around half of all reported piracy incidents now occur in the region on Africa’s west coast, where pirates are well-equipped to attack further away from shorelines than previously and are not opposed to taking violent action.
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