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A French sailor was freed on Tuesday after being captured by pirates last week from his ship off the coast of Togo and taken to Nigeria, a military commander said. Pirates attacked the oil products tanker Adour on June 13, around 30 nautical miles off the coast of Togo. General Bata Dembiro, a commander in Nigeria's oil-producing Niger Delta region, said the Nigerian navy and French marines stormed the vessel after the hijackers seized it, but they took Benjamin Elan hostage to enable them to escape. They released the other 14 crew, he said. "The rescued foreign ship worker was abducted in Togo aboard an oil tanker and brought to Bayelsa state (in Nigeria) by suspected kidnappers," Dembiro told Reuters by telephone.

The "Adour" was released" by its hijackers on June 17 and was proceeding to a safe port. The IMB confirmed the tanker was taken by pirates but ther ewere no reports about any losses. The owners lost contact with their vessel early on Juner 6 while it was in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of Togo, leading the IMB to issue a warning to other ships in the area.

French chemical tanker Adour is missing since June 13 13, last known position 04:00 UTC June 13 in 05 41N 001 18E (some 30 nautical miles south of Lome, Togo), shortly after leaving Lome anchorage (probably offloading STS). Presumably tanker Adour is hijacked by pirates. Operator of the vessel didn’t make any statements yet. Master and Chief officer (or Second) are French, the rest of the crew is of international mix.