Monjasa-Reformer

Six crew members of the 'Monjasa Reformer' who were taken hostage by pirates, were released in Nigeria on May 8. They were in fairly good shape. The 'Monjasa Reformer' was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea on March 25. After a few days, the pirates left the ship, but took six crew members as hostages. The other ten crew members remained on the ship.

The search for the six crew members of the 'Monjasa Reformer', taken hostage off the coast of West Africa, was going on. The hostage taking has raised concerns about a revival of piracy that had witnessed a brief lull over the past year and is a sobering reminder that this region is still plagued by piracy. The rescued crew members are all in good health and safely located in a secure environment and receiving proper attention. No damage was reported to the ship or the cargo of marine gas oil and sulphur fuel oil products it was carrying. The crew had alerted the management that pirates had boarded the vessel on the night of March 25. All sailors took refuge in the citadel, a designated safe area within a ship, in keeping with anti-piracy emergency protocols. The French Navy’s aerial drone located the vessel on March 30 and also recorded the presence of a pirate boat alongside the ship. When the naval patrol vessel began approaching the ship, another reconnaissance flight showed the pirate ship was no longer alongside the tanker. The crew still on board indicated that six of its members were kidnapped by pirates.

After the French naval ship FS 'Premier Maître L’Her' located the missing tanker by means of an aerial drone en route to the coast of Nigeria, a smaller vessel, believed to belong to the pirates, departed from the scene, taking six members of the crew with them. The 'Monjasa Reformer' by this stage was about 90 nautical miles south of Bonny. A doctor and nurse have boarded the tanker to provide any necessary treatment for the remaining crew. Meanwhile, the Nigerian naval ship NS 'Gongola' also arrived to provide any necessary assistance and support and to escort the tanker to the port of Lomé. A warning has now gone out from the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) to all mariners in the region to be extra vigilant and to exercise extreme caution while transiting the area. Report with photo: https://africaports.co.za/#6628