Pirates have released six Turkish crew who were kidnapped from a tanker off the Nigerian coast two weeks ago, reports say.
The men, who include the ship’s master, chief officer and chief engineer, are in good health and are safely back in Istanbul, Reuters reports. Attackers left other crew members onboard the vessel, unharmed.
At the time of the attack on April 11, the crew were working onboard the small chemical/product tanker Puli (15,900 dwt, built 2007), which was en route to Cameroon with a cargo of liquid chemical fuels. Puli is owned by Turkey’s Kaptanoglu Group.
The UN Security Council on Monday held an open debate on ‘Piracy and Armed Robbery at Sea in the Gulf of Guinea’ to discuss the increasingly frequent attacks on vessels in the area.
The Security Council adopted a statement calling for a “comprehensive regional framework to eradicate piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Gulf of Guinea” through justice systems and judicial cooperation.
