Naval Security Guard Killed in Pirate Attack Off Nigeria
Original source: Sea-Web
A FIERCE firefight between pirates and security guards off the coast of Nigeria has left one man dead and two wounded.
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PM Salem Attacked By Pirates Photo: Shipspotting.com
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Heavily armed pirates using machine guns chased and fired upon the Honduras-flagged offshore support vessel, PM Salem, in a speed boat early on 14 December. All the crew, apart from the master and the naval security personnel, retreated to the 2,943gt ship’s citadel. The security team returned fire.
A 20-minute battle ensued before the pirates gave up their attack. In the meantime, one security guard was killed and another two were wounded. The incident happened about 14nm West Pennington Terminal, 25nm southwest of a region called Bayelsa, in the Niger Delta. The vessel was on the way from USARI field to Lagos. The ship’s owner is listed as Project Masters International of Nigeria and reportedly chartered to ExxonMobil.
West Africa maritime security analyst Steve Phelps said that 2-3 incidents have taken place in the same area in recent weeks, and the same group could be behind all of them.
Phelps also pointed out that the attacks are occurring close to a region controlled by former warlord Government Ekpumopolo (aka Tompolo). Tompolo was recently awarded a multimillion-dollar government contract to guard the Niger Delta’s oil pipelines and installations.
“These attacks will be embarrassing for him,” Phelps pointed out. In a message sent to the Wall Street Journal in August, a spokesman for Tompolo said “absolute peace” would be “guaranteed” in the Delta.
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