Oh my, I just saw this come across the wires. How can this happen again?
Two Americans were kidnapped by armed pirates after their ship was attacked off Nigeria's coast, U.S. officials said Thursday.
The U.S.-flagged oil supply vessel C-Retriever was targeted in the Gulf of Guinea early Wednesday, Reuters reported. The ship's captain and chief engineer were abducted.
The seized vessel is owned by Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore. The company was not immediately available for comment.
Because it's off the coast of Nigeria. One of the worst places to be for this kind of stuff.
Edison Chouest Supply Boat Attacked, Americans Kidnapped
By Rob Almeida On October 23, 2013
PSV C-Retriever, image via Christian/Shipspotting
“Things are definitely getting more intense here,” remarked one of our sources working offshore Nigeria this afternoon.
A security boat manned with Joint Task Force (JTF) Nigeria personnel was allegedly attacked by militants this morning off Nigeria. According to one of our sources, all JTF personnel were killed and their weapons taken by the militants.
“This is the second attack on a security boat in the past three days,” our source adds.
Additional gCaptain sources also indicate that the Edison Chouest-owned, US-flagged platform supply vessel C-Retriever was working in a nearby field off Brass, Nigeria and was also attacked, an incident that our sources indicate was unrelated to the attack on the JTF personnel. Our source notes that the Captain and Chief Engineer, who are both US citizens, were kidnapped. The brother of the Chief Engineer (who’s name is withheld at the request of his brother) confirmed with us that the FBI is working on the case.
We have reached out to Edison Chouest for official comment, but they have not yet returned our phone call or emails.
A State Department official commented in an emailed statement saying, “We are closely monitoring reports that two U.S. citizens have been kidnapped from a U.S.-flagged vessel, the C-RETRIEVER, in the Gulf of Guinea. We are seeking additional information about the incident.”
The following is a graphic of the vessel tracking data for the C-Retriever which was obtained via vessel tracking provider, PortVision.com. The circled position indicates the vessel’s last known position, which was recorded at 2243 CDT on 22 October
