News24.com | Pirates kidnap 6 crewmen from 2 fishing boats off Gabon: source

Pirates kidnap 6 crewmen from 2 fishing boats off Gabon: source

2020-05-05 11:20
Fishermen in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, outside Jamestown, the oldest fishing community in Accra on July 21, 2019.

Fishermen in the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, outside Jamestown, the oldest fishing community in Accra on July 21, 2019. (NATALIJA GORMALOVA / AFP)

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Pirates attacked two fishing vessels on Sunday near the Gabonese capital Libreville, abducting six crewmen, a source close to the Gabonese government told AFP.

"The pirates kidnapped three Indonesians, two Senegalese and a South Korean," the source said without elaborating.

The Gabonese defence ministry did not respond to requests from AFP for comment.

It was the second pirate attack since the start of the year off the Gabonese coast.

In December pirates attacked several boats off Libreville, abducting four Chinese seamen and killing a Gabonese skipper.

The Gulf of Guinea, which stretches some 5 700 kilometres from Senegal to Angola, has become the new world epicentre of pirate attacks, lootings and kidnappings for ransom.

On 19 April, pirates attacked a container ship off the coast of the Benin capital Cotonou, leaving eight sailors missing.