LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) — The German owner of a chemical tanker hijacked off Nigeria's coast says it had 20 Eastern European sailors on board.
A spokesman for the United Product Tankers in Hamburg, Germany told The Associated Press on Wednesday that the MT Cape Bird hijacked Saturday night off the coast of Lagos was still drifting there, with the sailors and pirates onboard.
He could not comment on whether or not contact had been established with the vessel.
Violent pirate attacks in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea have risen in recent months, leading an umbrella group of London insurers to list Nigeria, neighboring Benin and nearby waters in the same risk category as Somalia.