Nigeria: Navy Rescues Hijacked Oil Vessel, Crew

The Nigerian Navy says it has rescued the oil vessel, MT Abu Dhabi Star, hijacked by pirates off the Nigerian territorial waters early on Wednesday morning.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the vessel, which was carrying products belonging to Exxon Mobil when it was hijacked on Wednesday at about 3:00 a.m., had a 23-man crew.

Confirming the rescue, Lt.-Cdr. Jerry Omodara, spokesperson, Western Naval Command, Apapa, told NAN that the naval personnel had taken over the ship and were currently ferrying it to Lagos.

Omodara said the details would not be provided “until when the rescue team arrives”.

He said that the navy had deployed a helicopter and two patrol vessels to search for the vessel and rescue the crew members in good condition.

The Nigerian Navy had last week chased another oil tanker allegedly hijacked within the country’s territorial waters but was later found off the coast of Ondo State with the Russians crew heading for Cotonou.

Nigeria and Benin Republic last year commenced a joint patrol of their territorial waters. NAN

Posted by admin on Sep 6 2012. Filed under African News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry