Pirates have seized a Greek-owned oil tanker with 24 Russian crew members on board off the coast of Togo, Russia Today reported on Wednesday.
“Pirates have kidnapped 24 Russian sailors in an attack on a Greek-owned oil tanker off the coast of Togo,” the English-language TV channel said. “The crew alerted the Togolese Navy, but the tanker managed to escape amid an exchange of fire with a patrol boat.”
Agence Ecofin, an African economic and financial news agency, said the attack occurred only 30 km from the Togolese capital of Lome.
According to an International Maritime Bureau report, a total of 32 pirate attacks on ships were registered off Benin, Nigeria and Togo, against 25 in the same period in 2011.