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Updated – Incident: Heavy Load Carrier Hijacked

It’s been reported that on Friday, 13 November 2020, a heavy load carrier ZHEN HUA 7 (IMO9166560) was boarded in Gulf of Guinea waters off Sao Tome and Principe.

Updated 15 November 2020: According to Praesidium International: Yesterday, it was confirmed that 14 out of 27 crew members have been kidnapped. The 14 men appear to have been unable to make it into the citadel. Two Navy vessels have been tasked to provide assistance. The vessel is operated by Shanghai Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (ZPMC).

The Italian Navy Frigate Martinengo, intervened to rescue the merchant Zhen Hua 7 and has been providing assistance to the crew still onboard.

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The ZHEN HUA 7 had been drifting and repositioning over 200NM offshore Nigeria since mid-October after leaving Lekki offshore on October 3rd. During the initial stages, no firm confirmation of actual kidnapped personnel was given. Confirmation was provided the following day by Chinese sources.

Two Navy vessels, the Spanish Navy OPV Centinela and the Portuguese P1146 NRP Zaire, have been instructed to intercept the ZHEN HUA 7, who has since resumed sailing and is heading towards Sao Tomé Island. This incident is the first successful kidnap within the Sao Tomé & Principe EEZ ever recorded.

14 November 2020:

The Liberian flagged heavy load ship was reportedly boarded by pirates and some crew may be kidnapped, but this is yet to be confirmed and we are still waiting on further information. There has been no AIS signal received since 2000 UTC Nov 13.

This comes after several recent failed pirate attack attempts in the region of West Africa in the last 10 days.

The ZHEN HUA 7 has been drifting within the location for some time.

More to follow as soon as possible.

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