The Nigerian Navy says two vessels that were exposed to security threats on Nigerian waters at the weekend have been secured and were en route their original destinations.
Commanding Officer (CO) of the Forward Operating Base (FOB), Nigerian Navy, Bonny, Navy Capt. Badamasi Yahuza confirmed this development to Kristina Reports in a telephone chat on Monday, December 21, 2020.
The Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) Limited and A.P. Moller-Maersk A/S, owners of the LNG Lagos II, and Maersk Cadiz, respectively, also confirmed the development in separate statements.
The Nigeria LNG, in a statement signed by its General Manager, External Relations and Sustainable Development, Eyono Fatayi-Williams, disclosed that a pirate attack on the LNG Lagos II, a chattered vessel, was averted in the early hours of Friday, December 18, 2020.
The company said the vessel, with International Maritime Organization (IMO) registration number: 9692014, reported a pirate threat to vessel and crew en route the company’s terminal in Bonny Island, Rivers State, Nigeria.
It further stated that the threat was averted after evasive manoeuvres by the vessel’s Master, assuring that “all personnel are safe and there is no report of physical attack or damage to vessel,” adding that the relevant authorities have been duly notified and it was currently monitoring the situation.
On its part, Maersk in a statement by its Senior Vice President and Chief Technical Officer, Palle Laursen confirmed that its geared container ship, Maersk Cadiz, which was boarded by pirates off the West African coast on Saturday, December 19, 2020, has been rescued.
It revealed that the “Maersk Cadiz was under way on a short transit from Ghana to Cameroon, when she was attacked and boarded by a gang of criminals,” stating that the intervention of Nigerian Navy patrol vessels dispatched to assist scared the pirates.
He further stated that the hoodlums “departed the ship without kidnapping any crew members,” adding that “all 21 seafarers aboard the ship are safe”.
He, however, expressed concern over the increasing spate of attacks on merchant vessels in the Gulf of Guinea corridor, calling on the relevant authorities to act speedily to address the situation.
“We are very concerned about the increased security risk from armed attacks on merchant vessels in the area. The risk has reached a level where local governments and the international community must take action to deal effectively with an unacceptable situation”.
Navy Capt. Yahuza confirmed that in both incidents there were no casualties or damage to either the LNG Lagos II, an LNG tanker built in 2016 and currently sailing under the flag of Bermuda, or the Maersk Cadiz, a container ship built in 2013 and sailing under the Singaporean flag”.
He informed that MAERSK CADIZ, with IMO registration number: 9526459 was rescued alongside its crew, adding that both the vessel and its crew have commenced onward voyage to their destination.
Dryad Global, an international maritime security monitoring firm based in the United Kingdom, had reported that “When sailing from Tema to Kribi, the Singapore flagged container ship MAERSK CADIZ (9526459) was approached by an unknown number of attackers on December 19, 2020.”
“It is understood that the vessel has been boarded and Nigerian authorities alerted. Details regarding the welfare of the crew remain unknown at this time.”
The Gulf of Guinea security corridor has recently come under threats of pirate attacks, a development that has spurred an escalation of security measures by the Nigerian Navy and other relevant security agencies to restore calm and assure safe passage for transiting vessels in the region.
The Navy chief assured investors, especially, the maritime community that the security situation in the area was under control, urging vessel owners utilizing the corridor to go about their normal activities with the assurance that their crew and vessels were safe to sail and engage in legitimate business.
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