Richard Ginika Izuora
Dryad Global, a maritime security surveillance firm has reported that a crude oil tanker M/T MINERVA EVOPRI was approached by pirates operating in a white speed boat on Friday, at about 10:35 UTC, 200 nautical mile of Bayelsa, Nigeria.
It is understood that shots were fired by the pirates. The vessel conducted evasive manoeuvres which thwarted the attempted boarding of the vessel, forcing the speed boat to depart.
Vessel and crew are safe.
This latest incident continues the increasing trend of reported incidents in the waters off the Gulf of Guinea within the later parts of 2020 with 12 incidents reported in the past 4 weeks and 3 failed attacks within the past 3 days.
Details regarding the precise nature of the approach remain unclear, however, the Gulf of Guinea is currently held as CRITICAL risk operating environment indicating incidents are highly likely expected daily.
Vessels operating within the region should continue to exercise maximum vigilance and mitigation where possible.
There have currently been 118 personnel kidnapped across 24 incidents within the Gulf of Guinea in 2020.