16th August, 2019
The number and nationalities of the seamen kidnapped off-Cameroon on Thursday have now been revealed. They are nine Chinese and eight Ukrainians, all abducted when two merchant vessels came under attack, believed to be by Nigerian pirates, in Cameroonian waters.
“Seventeen Chinese and Ukrainians were kidnapped… (of whom) nine (are) Chinese who were abducted on one of the ships,” an official in the port of Douala told AFP.
A Cameroonian security official confirmed the account, adding that Cameroon’s security forces had launched a search for them.
The Gulf of Guinea, whose coastline stretches in a huge arc from Liberia to Gabon, is notorious for piracy as well as oil theft, illegal fishing and human and drugs trafficking.
In Malaysia, Noel Choong, who heads the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), a watchdog agency, said the 17 seamen were seized from two ships that were attacked within hours of each other while they were anchored off Douala.
Choong said one of the ships was a multipurpose German-owned ship that flew the flag of Antigua and Barbuda. The vessel is owned by a Hamburg-based company, MC-Schiffahrt. The ship MarMalaita, had 12 crew members on board at the time of the abduction.
MC-Schiffahrt said in a statement on its website that it had assembled an emergency team and was cooperating with local authorities in Cameroon to deal with the incident, which happened late on Wednesday.
“Eight crew were kidnapped from the ship consisting of a total of 12 Asian and European sailors,” he said.
The other vessel was a Liberian-flagged bulk carrier managed in Greece with a Greek owner.
“There were 21 crew on board. All were Asians. Nine crew were taken,” Choong told AFP.
“(The) IMB has issued a warning to all ships at Douala. We ask all ships to take additional precaution.”
According to the IMB’s figures, 62 seafarers were taken hostage or abducted in the area in the first half of 2019.
The Gulf of Guinea accounts for 73 percent of kidnappings and 92 percent of hostage-takings at sea worldwide, it says.
The 17 countries in the Gulf of Guinea and adjacent regions have limited surveillance and maritime defence capabilities.
They have been trying for several years to bolster their means of intervention and to put in place closer collaboration.