Piracy & Ship Attacks July 8, 2010

12 sailors seized in ship attack off Nigeria

Last week gunmen kidnapped 12 foreign sailors and injured one after attacking a cargo ship in the waters off the coast of the oil-rich Niger Delta region.

First reports said that the attacked vessel, the BBC Polonia, is German-flagged, but according to the MarineTraffic.com website, it is an Antigua Barbuda registered ship which was heading to Nigeria's Onne port, situated on the Bonny estuary, close to the oil hub of Port Harcourt.

The navy was able to board the vessel and sailed it to safety at Bonny anchorage.

The crew member who was injured in the attack is Ukrainian and is in a stable condition at a hospital in Bonny, he added.

Nabaida identified the seized crew as seven Russians, two Germans, one Lithuanian, a Latvian and another Ukrainian.

No group has yet claimed responsibility for the attack.

Around 20,000 former militants who were fighting for a fairer share of oil revenues to go to local communities, laid down their arms under an amnesty deal in the oil-rich region between August and October last year.

Some have complained of poor reward after they surrendered arms, warning that they might return to the creeks to fight if the situation does not improve.

Under the deal, the government promised to provide cash, amenities in the region, jobs and retrain the ex-combatants.

Hundreds of people linked to the oil sector, have been kidnapped in the restive Niger Delta in recent years. Most have been released after a few days or a few weeks in captivity, very often after the payment of a ransom.