Turkey.- 15 Turkish sailors kidnapped after a pirate attack on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Guinea

An Azerbaijani sailor has died and 15 other Turkish companions have been kidnapped at the end of a pirate attack on a cargo ship in the Gulf of Guinea, according to the official Turkish news agency Anatolia this Sunday.Pirates attacked the ‘Mozart’ freighter on Saturday while it was sailing about 100 miles from the Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe. The ship, operated by Boden Denizcilik shipping company and sailing under the Liberian flag, was heading from the Nigerian capital, Lagos, to Cape Town, South Africa.

Now the ship is heading to Gabon with only three crew members on board, including the captain, Furkan Yaren, who has already discussed the situation with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

Erdogan let him know that “he is closely monitoring the situation and has given orders to his security forces to proceed with the rescue of the hostages,” according to a statement from the Presidency. At the moment the whereabouts of the kidnapped crew are unknown.

According to data from the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), there were 195 pirate attacks on ships last year, 33 more than in 2019. The Gulf of Guinea, the Straits of Singapore and Indonesian waters were particularly affected.