All crew were reported to be safe following a tanker hijacking off Ivory Coast that could indicate a broadening of piracy operations in West Africa.

Security company Dryad Global said the 5,700-dwt B Ocean (built 2009), operated by SK Shipping of South Korea, came under attack late on Monday, 53 miles south-west of Abidjan.

The fuel cargo on board was stolen, but no damage was reported to the ship.

Wave height was reported as 1.6 metres in the area at the time.

The incident was the first in the wider West African region for nearly a year.

Piracy reporting body MDAT-GoG had first received a report of a possible attack on a tanker on Monday evening.

Contact lost

SK Shipping had reportedly lost contact with the tanker at that time.

The International Maritime Bureau later confirmed the ship was hijacked for a time by pirates who took the fuel on board and then left.

Security company Africa Risk Compliance said the gunmen are likely using another vessel as a mother ship and for stolen cargo.

“All vessels in the area should continue to operate at heightened vigilance as pirates may carry out additional attacks on vessels in the area,” the company said.

The tanker has insurance cover from protection and indemnity club Skuld.

Security company Dryad Global said the ship is understood to have been operating as a bunker vessel at the time of the attack.

AIS data was down for at least 17 hours.

“Details remain unclear and it is understood that coastal law enforcement agencies have been tasked with tracking the vessel,” Dryad said.

Security company Diaplous Group said no navy or security ships were visible in the area around the B Ocean at the time.

SK Shipping has been contacted for further information.

MDAT GoG had earlier said local fishermen on the western coast of Ghana had spotted unidentified individuals putting to sea in a fishing boat with a high-powered outboard motor in the early hours of 24 January.

The group was not known locally and were suspected not to be Ghanaians.

A wider base of operations?

The port of Abidjan is home to sporadic reporting of incidents of low level maritime crime, but there have been no reported incidents of piracy in its waters.

“Throughout 2021, incidents of piracy and maritime crime indicated a significant downturn on previous years throughout the wider West African region,” Dryad said.

“Within the downturn of incidents, a further trend indicated a broadening of the piracy footprint to areas well beyond Nigerian waters, an area which had historically served as the heartland for such activity,” the company added.

Dryad believes the hijacking of commercial vessels remains highly irregular, with the last recorded seizure taking place in February 2021, when a Chinese fishing vessel was taken off Gabon.