Pirates Kidnap Crew & Release Spanish-Owned Vessel in Gulf of Guinea, Confirms Spanish Navy
The Spanish-owned 'San Miguel' vessel under Guinean-Spanish flag, which was hijacked on January 3 and subsequently released in the Gulf of Guinea after being held by pirates who later kidnapped three of the crew, was confirmed Thursday by the Spanish Navy.
The coaster belonging to the company, Martinez Brothers, with the flag of Guinea, which was attacked twenty miles from the port Bata, Equatorial Guinea, with nine crew on board - five from India, three from Equatorial Guinea, and one from Sao Tome and Principe.
The pirates steered the ship off the coast of Cameroon, where they later released the ship and six crew,but then decided to keep and abduct three crew, apparently the captain, a mechanic and a welder.
The Chief of Staff of the [Spanish] Navy (AJEMA), Admiral Jaime Muñoz-Delgado, has warned about the rise of piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, where pirates are more aggressive and violent than those between the Indian and Somali coasts.
According to a report from the International Maritime Bureau, in the first half of 2013 pirate attacks rose 35 percent in the Gulf of Guinea on the previous year. Most of the attacks occur in Nigeria, the second country in the world where most piracy cases occur, exceeded only by those recorded in Indonesia.
Source ABC Spain [Spanish Language]
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