Twenty African nations, along with European partners and the United States, are participating in the Grand African Navy Exercise for Maritime Operations (NEMO) in the Gulf of Guinea. The exercise, led by French forces, is designed to support cooperative security efforts in West African waters. Along with coastal and island…
Germany has suspended its participation in MINUSMA, the United Nations mission in Mali, after a rotation flight carrying soldiers to and from the Sahel nation didn’t receive overflight and landing rights from the government. “Once again, the Malian rulers have denied MINUSMA overflight rights,” said German defense minister Christine Lambrecht….
Nine Nigerian nationals working aboard the Sendje Berge have been abducted by armed attackers, according to vessel operator BW Offshore. The nine were taken about 4:20 a.m. local time on Thursday, said the company in a statement. The incident happened on the Okwori oil field, located offshore of Bonny Island…
There were 121 crew members kidnapped on ships attacked in the Gulf of Guinea in 2019, representing a more than 50 percent increase despite global trends that saw a decline in overall piracy incidents. “This equates to over 90 percent of global kidnappings reported at sea with 64 crew members…
Russia’s foreign ministry says it is closely following developments since pirates attacked a ship off the coast of West Africa last week and is assisting with negotiations over the safety of eight crew members held hostage. Foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova, speaking at a press conference from Pyatigorsk while attending…
Another six sailors have been taken hostage, after pirates stormed an oil tanker in the dangerous Gulf of Guinea. Their abductors boarded the APECUS, a Palau-flagged vessel at anchor off Bonny Island in Nigeria, at about 1:30 p.m. last Friday. They escaped with the six crew members, leaving the others…
The Russian government says there’s still no word on six sailors who were taken hostage when pirates boarded their ship in the Gulf of Guinea last week. The MSC Mandy, a Panamanian-flagged vessel, was attacked in the territorial waters of Benin on January 2 with two dozen people on board,…
Russia’s TASS news agency reported Tuesday that the sailors aboard the oil tanker Pantelena are in good health, and still in Togo at the port of Lomé as Russian diplomats in Gabon arrange to meet with them. “The sailors remain onboard the vessel, Togo’s authorities are dealing with them now,”…
The government of Georgia says that 17 of its citizens are missing after an oil tanker fell silent in the Gulf of Guinea, a notorious global hotspot of piracy and ship hijackings on Africa’s western coast. All contact has been lost with the Panamanian-flagged Pantelena, which was last heard from…
Indian authorities say they’re working closely with their West African counterparts to find 22 of their mariners aboard an oil tanker that went missing off the coast of Benin late last week. “We are making all out efforts in coordination with Nigerian and Benin naval authorities to trace the missing…
Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said Wednesday that its diplomats in the Nigerian capital of Abuja are working closely with Nigerian authorities to free Russian sailors who have been taken hostage at sea. “The Russian Embassy in Abuja reports that on February 5, an armed attack on the cargo ship…