Nigerian Pirates Raid Oil Barge - 2 Dead, 4 Missing

Armed pirates boarded an oil barge off Nigeria’s coast, killing two Nigerian navy sailors and kidnapping four other foreign crewmembers. Two other navy sailors who were providing security for the vessel were wounded during the early morning attack. Navy officials are in hot pursuit of the assailants off the Niger Delta.

The ship is owned by Sea Trucks Group – a Netherlands-based international oil services firm. They confirmed the attack on their vessel, Jascon. Their injured personnel were transported to Port Harcourt hospital for treatment.

This incident will be of great concern to Nigeria's oil and gas industry at a time when the government has just announced that oil production has reached an all-time high of 2.7m barrels per day, reports BBC.

Piracy is also increasing in parts of West Africa. The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) says it has recorded 17 pirate attacks in Nigerian waters this year - a significant increase on 2011.