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The
Biscaglia, a Liberia-flagged oil and chemical tanker ship is pictured after
being hijacked in the Gulf of Aden (Photo: AFP/Getty Images)
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Pirates
have hijacked a crude oil tanker off the Nigerian coast, taking three hostages
and killing the vessel's Greek deputy commander, the Greek coastguard said
Wednesday.
The
Malta-flagged Kalamos was anchored and awaiting fresh cargo from Qua Iboe, an
oil terminal in Nigeria's southeastern region operated by ExxonMobil, when it
was boarded on Tuesday.
Two
of the three hostages are Greek, and Greeks make up 10 out of the total 23
crew, a spokeswoman for the coastguard told AFP.
The
hijacking of the 15-year-old tanker took place in the Gulf of Guinea, which
experts have said is the new epicentre of piracy in Africa.
Between
January and September last year the area recorded 33 incidents of piracy and
armed robbery, according to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB).
It said the pirates
operating off the coast of Nigeria, Togo and Benin are heavily armed and
violent, and often hold crews hostage for several days.
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