Armed assailants abducted four crew members from a tanker in a piracy incident off Togo in West Africa's second hostage incident in three days.
The attack occurred in the early morning hours of 4 November on the 94,100-dwt Elka Aristotle (built 2003), Greek coastguards said on Monday.
Four members of the vessel’s crew of 24 people on board were kidnapped: two Filipinos, one Greek and one Georgian. The coastguards didn’t clarify their rank or provide further details on the incident.
The vessel was at an anchorage off Lome, Togo's capital city.
Armed guards were present on the tanker and tried to fight off the attackers, but one was shot and wounded, the Togolese navy said.
“Monday, 4th of November 2019, around 0300, the tanker boat Elka Aristotle ... was attacked around 18 kilometres [11 miles] from the port of Lome by armed individuals,” the statement said.
An investigation has been opened into the incident.
Greece monitoring
The Greek government is said to be closely monitoring the matter, in cooperation with the ship’s management company.
The Elka Aristotle is listed as part of European Navigation, a company featuring a fleet of about 20 tankers on its website.
European Navigation managers were not immediately available to comment. The company's tanker management arm, European Product Carriers, has confirmed the incident, according to German broadcaster DW.
“We cannot comment in detail at the present time, except to say that the safety and security of our people is of paramount importance to us and we are doing everything we can to ensure their prompt and safe release, the company said in a statement. “The vessel and remaining crew are safe.”
Earlier on Monday, TradeWinds reported that pirates abducted nine crew from a JJ Ugland bulker off Benin, a country neighbouring Togo.
The Norwegian shipowner said the 58,105-dwt Bonita (built 2010) was boarded by pirates very early on Saturday morning off the port of Cotonou.
“Nine crew members were taken off the vessel while she was waiting for a berth to discharge a cargo of gypsum,” the shipowner said.
JJ Ugland added that its response team was “handling the situation as per contingency plans” adding that the relevant authorities and crew members’ families had been contacted.
Hot spot
While piracy has been on the decline worldwide, West Africa's Gulf of Guinea has been a hot spot.
In the first three quarters of 2019, there were 119 incidents compared to 156 in the same period last year, according to data from the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre.
The vast majority of serious attacks were in the Gulf of Guinea, which represented 86% of hostage takings.
Dale Wainwright contributed to this article.
