| HeraldNet - Snohomish County's online news source |
 WEDNESDAY, MARCH 17, 2010 9:57 pm |
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Nation & World 
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Pirate attack kills 1 off West Africa JOHANNESBURG — A bloody pirate attack off Benin’s coast is raising concerns that Nigerian pirates — operating on the opposite side of Africa from Somali pirates — are extending their reach and shows that the waters off West Africa are almost equally dangerous, a maritime expert said.Pirates attacked an oil tanker Tuesday, killing a Ukrainian sailor and wounding at least two crew members on the Liberian-flagged Cancale Star, said Benin’s naval chief, Maxime Ahoyo. He said the tanker had 24 crew members, mostly Ukrainian and that some pirates were from neighboring Nigeria. They did not gain control of the ship, Ahoyo said. The ship’s Hamburg, Germany-based owner, Chemikalien Seetransport, said the crew captured one of the alleged pirates and turned him over to authorities in the port of Cotonou in Benin. A mix of poverty, politics and easy cash have made Nigeria and Somalia almost equally dangerous for shipping, Cyrus Mody of the London-based International Maritime Bureau said Wednesday. He said there are possibly as many attacks off Nigeria as near Somalia, but incidents off West Africa are reported far less often. Mody said his organization received reports of 40 attacks in Nigeria in 2008 and 23 reports this year of attacks in Nigeria, but believes there were many more. In comparison, there were 111 attacks by Somali pirates in 2008 and 202 so far this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau. The waters around Nigeria get heavy traffic from oil tankers, cargo ships, reefers and tugs, and Mody said all are known to have been attacked. But he said Tuesday’s attack was a surprise because he could not recall previous attacks off Benin. “If it was somebody from Benin who has done it then it is concerning, but if it is the Nigerian pirates who are extending their reach then it is still concerning because they are going out farther than they used to,” Mody said. “The Somalis are more into the hijacking of the entire vessel, crew, cargo, everything,” Mody said, adding that Nigerian pirates instead often make off with oil workers who are held for ransom and leave the vessels and their crew behind. |
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