AfricaOperations

LNG carrier crew member kidnapped in Equatorial Guinea

The 2003-built 138,000 cu m LNG carrier Methane Princess, owned by Golar LNG Partners, was boarded by pirates on Saturday while at anchor off Malabo in Equatorial Guinea. 

According to an intelligence report by maritime security consultancy Dryad Global, the vessel was attacked shortly after breaking off loading operations and while most crew members were able to retreat to the citadel, two Filipino crew were on the jetty and both were taken hostage. One of the two hostages jumped off of the pirate’s boat and was later rescued but sustained injuries.

The Equatorial Guinea Navy was on the scene within 35-40 minutes after the incident happened.

This latest incident is understood to be the 20th recorded kidnapping event in the Gulf of Guinea this year. Attacks involving LNG carriers remain rare.

“Despite larger numbers of kidnapped personnel across the first half of 2020 the current trend indicates that incidents of kidnapping and numbers of kidnapped personnel are tracking below the same time period in 2019. Incident volumes have historically increased between September and December as maritime conditions improve,” Dryad Global said.

Jason Jiang

Jason is one of the most prolific writers on the diverse China shipping & logistics industry and his access to the major maritime players with business in China has proved an invaluable source of exclusives. Having been working at Asia Shipping Media since inception, Jason is the chief correspondent of Splash and associate editor of Maritime CEO magazine. Previously he had written for a host of titles including Supply Chain Asia, Cargo Facts and Air Cargo Week.

Comments

  1. INTERTANKO could have prevented it. But they don’t want to spend money on military protection. Therefore, Golar crews will continue to fall.

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