A chemical tanker off Togo, West Africa, dodged an attempted pirate attack thanks to the naval support, which arrived on time.

The incident occurred 60 nautical miles south of Lome, Togo. The crew are safe and the ship is underway.

The joint French–British monitoring operation Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) recorded the event as being concluded and listed it as a small vessel coming near the tanker.

Maritime risk consultancy Vanguard Tech reported that the tanker was attacked and called it an attempted boarding, and Ambrey also called it a boarding accident.

The tanker was destined for the Democratic Republic of Congo when a small boat approached it. According to reports, the captain ordered the crew members to enter the citadel, and they also informed the authorities of the situation.

A patrol boat was immediately dispatched, and the pirates fled after they saw it. Additionally, the Nigerian Maritime Administration (NIMASA) and the Nigerian Navy coordinated and sent another boat for assistance.

After the tanker was thoroughly inspected, the crew members were released from the citadel. There was no damage, but it remains unclear if the tanker was boarded or not.

The 95 m-long tanker was constructed in 2010 and has operated in the region since it was acquired by Endo Tankers in 2023.

Earlier, it operated as the Mandume and was registered in the Marshall Islands.

Product tankers are a favoured target of pirates. In April, a product tanker was robbed off the Nigerian coast, and in the past, many such tankers were robbed of fuel near Côte d’Ivoire.

In March, the crew of a tanker was kidnapped south of the Central African coast.

However, this is the first incident in the region in 90 days. The number of such occurrences rose in March and Apri,l but serious crime against commercial vessels has reduced a lot after it peaked in 2020 in the Gulf of Guinea.

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