Lagos — Reporting indicates that the St Kitts flagged general cargo vessel MILAN (IMO 8113619) has been boarded 14nm NNM of the Pennington Terminal 10nm from shore resulting in the kidnap of 10 crew.
With the confirmation of kidnapping the total number of personnel kidnapped from vessels operating in the Gulf of Guinea in 2020 is 128 across 24 incidents.
The vessel was in transit from Escravos to Douala, Cameroon. AIS indicates that the vessel was in a southbound transit when she stopped on the evening of the 25th. The precise time of the attack remains unclear.
This is the 6th boarding incident (excluding Lagos) within Nigerian TTW within 2020. Recent established regional trends have shown an increase in boarding incidents beyond the Nigerian EEZ with Nigerian PAG’s seeking to operate beyond the traditional heartland of the Nigerian EEZ.
