On 19th October 2015, the armed pirates boarded the 19 crew member cargo ship and kidnapped four crew members, two Lithuanian and two Ukrainian. The pirates also stole the cash in the ship.
There are no details regarding the pirates’ ship, nor the location of the kidnapped seafarers. The pirates destroyed the ship’s equipment before leaving the ship.
A working group to investigate the abduction, as well as to take care of the seafarers’ release has been formed by the Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevicius. Dryad Maritime reports that this is the first incident at Sea off Niger Delta in the last five months.
Will McManus from Maritime Security Resource Group (MSRG), said,“The only effective deterrent is for there to be a permanent naval presence in the region and for the Nigerian government to allow western guards to protect vessels. If we could mirror the systems and processes that we put in place on the other side of Africa and other regions, then it would have an immediate effect on this type of situation happening again.”
Source: defenceweb
