The hijacked ship has been discovered deserted, however an unknown variety of its crew continues to be lacking.

Pirates have deserted a Danish-owned ship hijacked within the Gulf of Guinea final week however have taken some crew members with them whereas others have been delivered to security, the vessel’s proprietor says.

The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical substances tanker Monjasa Reformer was boarded on Saturday by 5 armed individuals 225km (140 miles) west of the Republic of Congo’s Port Pointe-Noire, its proprietor, Monjasa, mentioned on the time. Sixteen crew members had been on board.

The Reformer subsequently went lacking however was later positioned by the French navy off Sao Tome and Principe, Monjasa mentioned on Friday.

“Our ideas are with the crew members nonetheless lacking and their households throughout this nerve-racking interval,” the corporate mentioned. “Monjasa will proceed working intently with the native authorities to assist our seafarers protected return to their households.”

The rescued crew members are all in good well being, and no injury was reported to the ship or its cargo, it mentioned.

The Gulf of Guinea, described by the Worldwide Maritime Bureau as one of many world’s most harmful delivery routes, covers 11,000sq km (4,247sq miles) and stretches from Angola to Senegal.

Since 2021, piracy circumstances have been on the decline as a result of cooperation amongst nations within the area and deployments of overseas naval ships, in response to the United Nations Safety Council.

Denmark, which has massive industrial delivery pursuits, deployed a frigate to the gulf in 2021 to guard delivery, however the ship was pulled again final yr after the outbreak of the Ukraine conflict.

In November 2021, a Danish naval patrol killed 4 pirates in an change of fireplace simply exterior Nigeria’s territorial waters.