Pirates Hostage Oil Tanker Crewmen Off West Africa

Several members of the 16-man crew on a Liberia-flagged tanker are being held hostage by pirates who boarded the ship in West Africa’s Gulf of Guinea last week, the Danish shipper that owns the vessel said, Jan M. OIsen reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: A Monjasa vessel

Pirates boarded the Monjasa Reformer southwest of Port Pointe-Noire, Congo, on March 25 and five days later, the French Navy that was patrolling the area, found the ship off the small island nation of Sao Tomé and Principe north of where it had been attacked.

Company spokesman Thorstein Andreasen said that “the pirates had abandoned the vessel and brought a part of the crew members with them.” The online shipping magazine Trade Winds said three crew members were hostaged.

Andreasen added the crew members left behind “are all in good health and safely located in a secure environment and receiving proper attention following these dreadful events.”

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