The Maersk Tema container vessel that was attacked off the Bonny coast yesterday has been rescued from pirates who boarded the ship and held the crew hostage.

Kristina Reports reliably gathered that the vessel is en route Lagos, its original destination.

A top maritime security source, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the information today, saying that investigations were still on to unravel the circumstances behind the attack.

According to the source, “The vessel has been rescued and is being led back to Lagos.”

The source, however, refused to disclose further information on the attacked container vessel.

According to Vessel Finder, the Automatic Identification System, a vessel tracking system in the maritime sector, reported that the container vessel, MAERSK TEMA was en route to the port of Lagos, sailing at a speed of 13.3 knots and expected to arrive any time soon.

The vessel, MAERSK TEMA, with International Maritime Organization (IMO) registration number: IMO 9698264; and Maritime Mobile Service Identity (MMSI) registration number: MMSI 538005752, is a Container Ship built in 2015 (5 years old) and currently sailing under the flag of Marshall Islands.

Recall that pirates reportedly attacked a container vessel named Maersk Tema at 200 nautical miles, South West of Bonny on Valentine’s Day while the vessel was en route Lagos from Point Noire in Benin Republic.

According to Dryad Global, this incident is coming barely two months after a Bulk carrier, Vinalines Mighty was attacked and boarded by three pirates 40 nautical miles off Bonny on the 31st day of December 2019.

There have been concerns that the Bonny coast, which is a critical security corridor in the Gulf of Guinea, has remained a target to sea pirates, who carry out daring attacks on sea going vessels, taking their crews hostage and demanding ransom for their release.

But some security sources told Kristina Reports that efforts were being made to escalate security presence along the corridor to checkmate such ugly incidences, adding that, so far, several arrests have been made and the apprehended suspects helping the investigations.