A major search effort is underway to find a ship carrying 22 Indian crew and 13,500 tons of gasoline.
The Marine Express tanker, managed by Hong Kong-based Anglo-Eastern, was last seen in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Benin on Friday after which contact was lost, an Anglo Eastern spokesman said.
The cause of the loss of communication was unknown and a search was underway, conducted with help from Nigerian and Beninese authorities, Anglo-Eastern said.
“We regret that contact has been lost with the vessel, which was the Cotonou Anchorage in Benin, West Africa,” the spokesman said.
The Gulf of Guinea has become an increasing target for pirates who steal cargo and demand ransoms, even as piracy incidents fall worldwide, experts say.
A decade ago piracy-related issues plagued the east African coast, particularly Somalia’s unpoliced waters. But those concerns have now shifted to the Gulf of Guinea.
Ships in the area were the target of a series of piracy-related incidents last year, according to a January report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which highlighted the waters off West Africa as an area of growing concern.
Ten incidents of kidnapping involving 65 crew members were recorded in or around Nigerian waters, the IMB said. Globally 16 vessels reported being fired upon, seven of which were in the Gulf of Guinea.
On January 10 a company lost communication with its tanker anchored in Cotonou, according to the IMB. After a six-day search, the tanker and crew were found safely in Lagos after the tanker owner negotiated with the hijackers, IMB said.
