Four Dead, Three Kidnapped After Pirates Attack Dredger in Gulf of Guinea

Four persons were killed and three abducted following a pirate attack on a Nigeria-flagged hopper dredger in the Gulf of Guinea on January 2, 2020.

The 2,153 GT Ambika was attacked when operating some three nautical miles from the mouth of the Ramos River and nine nautical miles east of the Forcados Terminal in Nigeria, according to information provided by Dryad Global.

There was a heavy exchange of fire between the embarked security personnel on the Ambika and the pirates in which four security guards were killed and two injured.

After the firefight, the pirates boarded the 1979-built vessel and kidnapped three crew members, leaving behind five sailors. Two abducted men are Russians and one Indian, the maritime security company further said.

As informed, this is the first offshore incident within this location since November 2018 when a vessel was fired upon.

The 83.5-meter-long dredger, previously known as Galilei 2000 and owned by Jan de Nul, is now owned by a Lagos-based gas development company with operations upriver from the Ramos River entrance.

World Maritime News Staff