Pirates attack US merchant ship in Gulf of Guinea, kidnap three crew members

Pirates attacked a US bulk carrier and kidnapped three crew members, including the ship's captain, off the coast of Gabon in the Gulf of Guinea, maritime agencies confirmed Wednesday.

"Three crew were kidnapped yesterday when the Grebe Bulker, a 2010-built supramax belonging to Eagle Bulk, came under attack just after midnight from pirates at Owendo Anchorage in Gabon," according to Geneva Dry, the world's premier commodities shipping conference.

It added that 17 other crew members were unharmed during the attack.

The three kidnapped crew members are the captain and second and third officers, according to International Crisis Room 360, a risk and crisis management platform that leverages peer and expert information.

The captain is Russian and his two officers are Georgian, according to a Gabonese judicial source.

“They were kidnapped by unidentified armed men,” the source told Anadolu on condition of anonymity.

​​​​​​​Local authorities dispatched a river patrol boat two and a half hours after the attack, local media reported.

"This event demonstrated the significance of effective point defense as local armed national guards were available at the anchorage," local online newspaper Direct Infos Gabon reported, citing the pirate-hunting security firm Ambrey.

The Gulf of Guinea, a maritime route for hydrocarbon-rich countries stretching more than 3,000 miles between Senegal and Angola, has long been a hotspot for piracy. According to the UN, however, maritime piracy has been on the decline since April 2021.​​​​​​​

Piracy is worth nearly $2 billion annually to the criminal networks involved, according to the UN Assistant Secretary-General for Africa, Martha Ama Akyaa Pobee.