Local media reported that the ship was attacked 185km north-west of the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday morning.
CAPE TOWN, January 25 (ANA) – Pirates launched a deadly attack on a Turkish cargo ship off the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday, killing one and taking 15 hostage, reported various media sources.
The M/V Mozart, which sails under a Liberian flag, was travelling from the Nigerian city of Lagos to Cape Town, South Africa, when the attack took place.
According to German media outlet Deutsche Welle (DW), Turkey’s Maritime Directorate said the man who was killed was an engineer from Azerbaijan.
Local media reported that the ship was attacked 185km north-west of the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe in the Gulf of Guinea on Saturday morning.
Turkey’s Maritime Directorate said the crew initially locked themselves in a safe area but the pirates forced entry after six hours. During the struggle, one crew member on board the M/V Mozart died, writes news broadcaster Al Jazeera.
According to Turkish-based news outlet Anadolu agency, following Saturday’s attack, the Liberian-flagged cargo ship Mozart on Sunday anchored at Port-Gentil, Gabon, but with only three surviving crew members on board.
According to media reports, Turkey is doing everything it can to get the 15 kidnapped sailors back, although their whereabouts are unknown.
Authorities say that to date the pirates have not made contact with Turkish officials, according to Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu, reported Anadolu agency.
According to reports, the pirates disabled most of the ship’s systems, leaving only the navigation system for the remaining crew to find their way to port, writes Al Jazeera.
The Gulf of Guinea – off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon – is the most dangerous sea in the world because of piracy, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
– African News Agency (ANA); Editing by Yaron Blecher
