Pirates attack tanker off Nigeria coast, take 19 of crew hostage

Pirates kidnapped 19 crew members from a Greek-owned crude oil tanker off Nigeria, the ship's owner and managers said in a statement.

The Nave Constellation was attacked on Tuesday about 142 kilometres (77 nautical miles) off Bonny Island, located directly off the southern coast of Nigeria, in an area where acts of piracy have been on the rise.

Eight Indians and one Turk from the crew were seized, according to Thursday's joint statement from the tanker's operators, the Greece-based Navios and the Hong Kong-based Anglo-Eastern Tanker. Management.

Seven crew members remained on board and were told to take the loaded vessel to a safer position, the statement said. The Hong Kong-flagged supertanker is capable of carrying up to 2m barrels of oil.

"All appropriate authorities" have been alerted, and "all the necessary action is being taken to secure their well-being and early release", the statement said.

The families of those abducted had been informed, it added.

The container was shipping crude for Indian refiner Hindustan Petroleum Corp, a source at the company told. The container was chartered by French oil company Total to deliver Bonny Light oil at Vizag in southern India, the source said.

Meanwhile, an Indian government source said its mission in Nigeria had taken up the matter of the kidnappings with the Nigerian government and security agencies.