A Singapore-managed tanker has been boarded off Equatorial Guinea and crew members kidnapped.
According to maritime intelligence firms Diaplous and EOS Risk Group the Tuvalu-registered 13,000-dwt Hana I (built 2007) was boarded off Malabo on 1 January.
The ship had a four-metre freeboard at the time of the incident and was sailing at a speed of 11 knots.
The master and chief engineer are reported to have been abducted.
However, TradeWinds understands that as many as nine crew members may have been taken from the ship.
There has been no contact from the men or their captors since they were kidnapped.
The ship was heading for the Doula Port in Cameroon when the incident happened. It has now arrived at the port.
The Hana 1 is managed by the Raffles Ship Management and owned by the Wilmar Group.
The Wilmar Group has been contacted for comment.
The incident will raise concerns as it comes after an apparent fall in piracy in the Gulf of Guinea.
There were 132 such incidents in 2020, with 135 crew members abducted.
That number has dropped to just 14 in the first half of 2023, according to Bassey Adie, managing director at Lagos-based Loyz Marine Services.
It also comes as attempted ship boardings are increasing in the Gulf of Aden and southern Red Sea as part of the Yemen-based Houthi Rebel action against Israeli-linked shipping.
