Seven crew have reportedly been taken hostage and another ten crew are have retired to the security of the onboard citadel and are in touch with the company following an attack by armed men on an MSC vessel of the coast of West Africa on 22 March.
The vessel, the Portuguese flagged MSC Talia F, came under attack 52 nautical miles west of Libreville, Gabon, while heading for to the port from Lomé, Togo. All 17 crew of the 957TEU vessel are understood to be Ukrainian.
Security firm Dryad Global has reported, “This is the first incident within this area in 2020. Within 2019 there were four recorded incidents at Port Libreville and the Owendo Anchorage involving a spate of incidents in December 19. One of those incidents resulted in the kidnapping of four Chinese fishermen and latterly the crew from a vessel transiting from Douala to Port Libreville.”
