An LNG carrier and its crew has emerged unscathed from a piracy attack off Nigeria.
The BW Group owned and managed 150,000-cbm LNG Lokoja (built 2006), which is on long-term charter to the Nigeria LNG project, is understood to have come under fire after leaving the Bonny LNG terminal at the end of April.
A BW Group spokesman said: “I confirm that LNG Lokoja managed to evade pirates with defensive manoeuvres and no injuries were reported.” But the company gave no details on the incident.
Those familiar with the ship say the vessel would not have had armed guards onboard but is kitted out with full anti-piracy equipment including hoses, razor wire and lookouts. They comment that the vessel has a high freeboard and is fast which would likely enable it to outrun any pirate vessel.
LNG Lokoja is due to arrive at the Montoir-de-Bretagne LNG terminal in France this week.
In March shots were fired on the 176,000-cbm La Mancha Knutsen (built 2016) while it was approaching a pilot station some 100 nautical miles off the Nigerian coast and pirates made an unsuccessful attempt to board the vessel.
