Chemical/oil products tanker Davide B (IMO 9721750) was reported as having been boarded by pirates off Cotonou, Benin on Thursday March 11th, with 15 of the 21 crew members kidnapped.
Maritime safety consultancy Dryad Global said that the vessel was boarded by nine armed men. The vessel’s personnel comprised Ukrainian, Romanian, and Philippines nationals. Ship manager De Poli confirmed that 15 members had been taken from the ship and that the remaining six were safe and for the present remained onboard.
The manager said that “De Poli Shipmanagement is greatly concerned about the attack on its vessel and seafarers. The company’s main priority now is to establish contact with the missing crew in order to secure their earliest and safe release. De Poli Shipmanagement’s Emergency Response Team is liaising with all relevant authorities who (were) notified immediately after the incident, which occurred at approximately 15.00 UTC on Thursday. The company are in close contact with the families of the seafarers to support them in this extremely difficult time”.
“The incident appears to have occurred 9nm SE of the edge of the Nigerian EEZ and is near to where a number of vessels will look to RV with Nigerian SEV,” Dryad said, noting further that vessels within this area were “at a unique vulnerability, in that they are generally operating within waters beyond the operational footprint of regional security forces.”
2016-built, Malta-flagged, 14,034 gt Davide B is owned by Maltholmen Shipping Ltd care of manager De Poli of Barendrecht, Netherlands. It is entered with Gard AS on behalf of De Poli Shipmanagement.