A Filipino crewman has been confirmed missing following a pirate attack on a Minerva Marine tanker off Benin on Thursday.
The 51,000-dwt Minerva Virgo (built 2006) was attacked 83 km (52 miles) off Cotonou at 12:51 UTC.
Operator Minerva Marine confirmed the MR ship was boarded in a statement to TradeWinds on Friday.
It said the master instructed the crew of 22 people to muster in the citadel.
But a spokeswoman told TradeWinds that an exhaustive search had failed to find one seafarer. It is not clear whether he has been kidnapped or was lost overboard.
"Local naval authorities have boarded the vessel and confirmed vessel cleared from pirates. 21 out of the 22 crew members are safe and in good health condition," the company said.
It added: "One Filippino crew member is reported unaccounted for. The company is liaising with all relevant authorities, taking all necessary actions, having the safety and well-being of the crew member as their first priority and his next of kin have been informed."
Piracy reporting organisation Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade-Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) and security consultants Ambrey said the Greek-flagged vessel was underway at 12.6 knots at the time and was destined for Lagos, Nigeria, on Friday, having left the Netherlands on 19 February.
"Vessels are strongly advised to respond accordingly," Ambrey said.
Seafarer 'unaccounted for'
Security consultancy Dryad Global said the vessel had been boarded by five or six individuals.
The last AIS update from the vessel dates from 1 March.
The attack came five hours after a suspicious approach to a tanker 96 km to the west.
MDAT-GoG issued an advisory stating that a vessel spotted one skiff with nine or10 people on board.
Ambrey said the alert related to a Marshall Islands-flagged MR tanker, underway at 11 knots.
Its last port of call had been the Apapa Oil Terminal in Lagos.
The ship was seen to have adjusted course and increased speed.
The crew and vessel were reported as safe.
The last serious incident off West Africa came on 20 February when a Greek tanker was boarded and nine crew abducted.
Oceangold Tankers' 74,000-dwt Alpine Penelope (built 2008) reportedly had 24 seafarers on board from Georgia, the Philippines and Ukraine.
Same group?
Dryad said the Minerva attack was the third boarding incident reported in the waters off Benin in 2020.
It is assessed as "highly likely" that the perpetrators of both the Minerva Virgo and Alpine Penelope incidents are the same grouping and are highly likely to have originated from within Nigerian waters, it added.
"Since 2019 there has been an increase in maritime security incidents involving vessel boarding’s and kidnappings within the waters off Lome and Togo," it added.
"This is, in part, assessed to be due to the increased risks facing perpetrators within the Nigerian EEZ [Exclusive Economic Zone] as a result of enhanced security coordination and the increasingly prevalent use of security escort vessels. This, combined with an effective lack of coordinated security measures beyond the Nigerian EEZ, has led to perpetrators to travel further in search of high yield targets."
