29 March 2010

Pirates Attack Turkish Ship in Nigeria

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Pirates late Thursday attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the coast of Nigeria, near Lagos, injuring three crew members, Turkey's state-run news agency Anatolian reported yesterday.
According to the agency report, about 10 pirates with automatic weapons boarded the ship named Ozay 5, robbing the crew of money and cellphones but fled after the ship began making distress calls. The ship's cargo was not damaged in the attack.
Two of the injured crew were Turkish and one was Nigerian, Anatolian, quoted the Turkish Maritime Under-secretariat in Ankara as saying.
In a written press release, the Turkish Under-secretariat of Maritime Affairs confirmed that Ozay-5 was attacked on Thursday night by at least eight sea pirates.
“The pirates seized all cash money, mobile telephones and other valuable items in the ship. The pirates and the crew members began fighting with each other when a crew member pushed the alarm button of the ship.
“The sea pirates left the ship after spraying bullets on the personnel saloon. There were no major injuries or mass property damage in the ship. The injured crew members have been taken to a hospital in Lagos. Their injuries were not life threatening,” the Turkish Maritime Affairs Agency said.
There are fears in the maritime sector over the rising status of Nigeria among countries with high rate of pirate attacks. 
Latest report from the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre in London, United Kingdom shows that Nigeria is now next to Somalia in the list of countries whose waters have been invaded by pirates.
Specifically, the IMB report showed that only 20 percent of the attacks carried out around the Lagos waters are reported.
It said: “Nigeria ranks second in attacks with 40 reported incidents including 27 vessels boarded, five hijackings and 39 crew members kidnapped. 
“The bureau explained that approximately 100 unconfirmed incidents occurred in Nigeria last year.
“Under-reporting from vessels involved in incidents in the Nigerian waters remains a great concern,” it said.
It was learnt that the reported attacks were just the tip of the iceberg as many operators are reluctant to file reports due to commercial pressures or fear of reprisals.
“While only 20 attacks were officially reported to IMB in 2009, information received from external sources indicates that at least 50 per cent of attacks on vessels, mostly related to the oil industry, have gone unreported,” said the bureau.
The International Maritime Organisation agency also added that piracy in West Africa rose, saying shipping in Tema, Ghana, Benin and in the Lagos and Bonny River areas of Nigeria, was risky.
The bureau director, Pottengal Mukundan explained that in Nigeria, “there were 13 reported and 24 unreported attacks in the second quarter of
2009, mainly against vessels supporting the oil industry.” 
Across the continent, marauding sea gangs have attacked many ships off the East Coast of Africa in recent years, winning ransoms of millions of dollars. 
Overall, the IMB said 78 vessels were boarded worldwide last year, “75 vessels fired upon and 31 vessels hijacked with some 561 crew taken hostage, 19 injured, seven kidnapped, six killed and eight missing.”
Mukundan also noted that while Somalia was getting some media attention for its problems, a worrying trend had emerged off the coast of Nigeria.
He recalled that in October 2009, a product tanker was attacked off the coast of Lagos by six pirates armed with knives and guns.
“Unlike Somalia, Nigeria has an effective central government and the strongest navy in the region. What is worrying is that there appears to be no political will to combat the problem of piracy off their coast, despite the country being a major oil exporter and the country’s economy being heavily reliant on imports of other goods,” Mukundan said.

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