Crew members of the vessel City of Xiamen - Russian Sergey Dyachkin and 4 citizens of Poland, were seized by pirates on the night of April 26 in the Gulf of Guinea.

The state of health of seafarers is said to be "normal" on 12 May and after passing the required medical examination they were all flown home.

Russian Foreign Ministry and the Russian Embassy in Abuja, expressed 

appreciation to the staff of the company, the shipowner, Sanship Shiffartskontor KG, Polish diplomats and Nigerian a City of Xiamne was attacked by fourteen heavily armed pirates in two boats, one supply boat with the name 'Utai 8' and the other a speed boat with orange hull and blue wheelhouse, approached and boarded Antigua & Barbuda-flagged, uthorities for clear and effective communication in helping to ensure safe release of the crew of the City of Xiamen.

A distress call on Chan 16 VHF was intercepted by a vessel in the area, stating that City of Xiamen reported being pursued by two speed boats. After initial VHF distress report contacts were lost, it was understood that the vessel was boarded by pirates. The crew included 1 Russian, 11 Sri Lankan, 1 Burmese and 4 Polish national on 25 April.German boxship, City of Xiamen, at around 2200 LT in approximate position 03:48N - 005:54E, 36nm south of Brass, Nigeria, while en route from Lome, Togo, to Onne, Nigeria.

The vessel was reported to be free from pirates, arriving Malabo Road 27/28 April.

A later report received stating that was previously hijacked, the crew change vessel, Utai 8, used as the mothership to launch the attack.

The City of Xiamen had raised the alarm and the crew took shelter in the citadel. The pirates were able to breach the citadel and then kidnapped the Master, C/O, C/E, 2/E and 3/E and escaped with cash belonging to ship and crew. The remaining crew were reported safe.

West Africa is an important source of oil, cocoa and metals for worldmarkets, however, unlike off the coast of Somalia, international navies are not engaged in counter-piracy missions at present. Many vessels are forced to anchor off Nigeria with little protection or more restricted national-based security teams, making them an easier target for criminals. Illegal bunkering of oil cargo has been the major crime, but the rise in kidnapping of vessel crew has caused great concern over the last year.

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