A bulker held in France after a cocaine seizure has been raided by an armed gang who tied up the replacement crew members.
French media said 10 individuals boarded the 30,800-dwt handysize Trudy (built 2009) at the port of Dunkirk on Monday night, but left after four hours without taking anything.
Authorities had found 1.13 tonnes of cocaine on the ship on 1 October.
Although the vessel has been sealed off since then, that did not stop the gang boarding and "kidnapping" the 21 seafarers on duty, according to a police source cited by the Ouest-France daily.
"The likely goal was to recover drugs and money," but the armed men "left at 5am empty-handed", the source said.
Some crew members were tied up and threatened with wooden sticks, but no injuries were reported, the Dunkirk prosecutor's office told the AFP news agency.
The office said the gang spoke in English and searched the vessel, accompanied by the captain.
An investigation has begun.
Held against their will
German commercial manager Minship represents the vessel's owners, who are financial investors.
Minship confirmed the incident, saying the crew members were held against their will.
"Those individuals have left the vessel and all 21 crew of Trudy are safe and accounted for and are being attended to," it added.
"Operators would like to express their deepest concern over the incident and are providing full support to the seafarers of Trudy."
Minship is not commenting further, in order not to interfere with the French police investigation.
Strict drugs policy
Technical manager Columbia Shipmanagement confirmed on 6 October that the Trudy was requested by French authorities to deviate to Dunkirk from its planned route through the English Channel on 1 October for a customs inspection.
"Minship and Columbia consider the trafficking of drugs on one of its vessels as an extremely serious matter," Columbia said.
"We rigorously enforce a strict policy prohibiting seafarers to assist or participate in any drug distribution or trafficking and other criminal activities."
The original crew of 20, a mix of Russians, Ukrainians, Filipinos and Ethiopians, plus the Romanian captain, were arrested but quickly released, reports said on 1 October.
Arrived from Brazil
Now a judicial source has told Ouest-France that 19 of these were subsequently charged and 15 of them remain in custody. Minship confirmed this to TradeWinds.
The drugs seizure was the most important "carried out in French territorial waters in France since 2018", according to the Public Action & Accounts Minister, Olivier Dussopt.
The bulker had arrived from Aratu, Brazil, and was heading to northern Europe.
The vessel is insured with North of England P&I Club.
At the end of September, insurer Skuld warned that reduced air traffic during the pandemic had led to an increase in drugs smuggled by sea, particularly in containerships to big European ports.
Increasing amounts of cocaine are arriving at container ports such as Antwerp, Rotterdam, Hamburg and Valencia, Skuld said, following a report by the United Nations Office on Drugs & Crime.
