By Kenneth Jukpor
It took the intervention of the Russian Navy last night to rescue the containership belonging to Mediterranean Shipping Company which was attacked in the Gulf of Guinea, precisely off Bayelsa, in Nigeria.
Reports stated that the 1985-built 1,893 teu MSC Lucia was boarded by an unknown number of armed men earlier yesterday, but a Russian Navy tanker, Akademik Pashin approached the hijacked vessel and rescued it.
Akademik Pashin is included in the Russian naval group located off the coast of West Africa.
While the timely rescue of the distressed ship is seen as a good development, the attack is an anomaly at a time the GoG has recorded a drop in piracy with zero pirate attack in the last quarter.
The role of the Deep Blue Project is also unknown in the current attack, but the development is one that should spur the speedy deployment of all the Project’s assets.
Speaking on the incident, a shipping expert who preferred annoynmity said, “Countries have sent in their Navies to the Gulf of Guinea and have created a corridor for their flagged vessels placing their Navies strategically to respond. No one has time for Nigeria’s mediocrity anymore.”
Details on the attack remain patchy, with the vessel south of Nigeria and west of Cameroon, around 86 nautical miles south-west of the Agbami Terminal when it was attacked. It is unclear at this stage whether the crew are safe.
The ship was en route to Lome in Togo, according to VesselsValue data.
