Lagos — The International Maritimer Bureau, IMB, have reported that a Cypriot cargo vessel flagged ESL AUSTRALIA has been attacked by pirates off the coast of Bayelsa State.
All crew are reported to be in the citadel and the Nigerian Navy authorities have been informed and are responding.
Specifically, the incident occurred 136nm SW of Bayelsa State, 144nm NW of Sao Tome and 44nm South of Nigerian EEZ
Dryad global disclosed that this is the 5th such incident to occur within 100nm of the southern fringe of the Nigerian EEZ within 2020.
In 2019 there were 4 incidents within 50nm of this incident.
Incident analysis shows an increase in reporting in this area across a 3 year period which is contrast with a wider declining trend of overall incidents over the same period.
