Unidentified gunmen have apparently kidnapped two South Korean nationals from a fishing vessel south of Lome, Ghana.
The vessel appears to be hijacked, according to Dryad Global, which said the incident happened on 28 August.
The vessel is assessed to be the fishing vessel AP703. “The vessel is currently heading on an Eastwards trajectory. Local authorities have been alerted to the situation and are responding,” Dryad said.
The company noted that incidents of this type targeting fishing vessels in the Gulf of Guinea are not uncommon, and are largely opportunistic in nature. Fishing vessels pose an opportune target due to their lack of BMP-5 measures, and in such a case the motivation in hijacking such a vessel is likely to be purely criminal instead of necessarily piratical.
“Commercial vessels are reminded to remain vigilant within this area, however such a hijacking does not necessarily suggest a capability of such groups to approach and/or board much larger vessels,” Dryad said.
The incident came two months after five Korean sailors were abducted from the Ghanaian vessel Panofi Frontier in waters off Benin. They were released in southern Nigeria a month later.