Pirates Attack LNG Carrier Off Nigeria

A carrier used by Nigeria LNG (NLNG) was attacked by pirates last week, but no-one onboard was injured.

The Bermudan government's Department of Marine & Port Services said that a ship security alert was received in Bermuda  at 2.25am local time from LNG River Niger "indicating that the vessel was under attack by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, near Nigeria. Although the pirates opened fire on the vessel, evasive action was undertaken by ship’s crew with the attack aborted and unsuccessful boarding of [the] vessel. The Nigerian Navy was dispatched in attempt to trace the source of the attack." No injuries were reported onboard. The LNG tanker was then escorted by a security vessel to Nigeria LNG's home port of Bonny.

The LNG River Niger, built in 2006, is one of 11 LNG carriers owned by NLNG subsidiary Bonny Gas Transport (BGT) that is registered in Bermuda. They make up roughly half of BGT's total fleet. 

Ship tracking services indicated that the vessel began a journey, presumably laden, on November 7 en route to China where it is due to arrive December 5.

In March 2017 LNG carrier La Mancha Knutsen managed to frustrate an attempt to board it by pirates south of Port Harcourt, Nigeria, and in October 2016, shipowner Teekay said its LNG carrier Galicia Spirit was attacked whilst offshore Yemen. On both occasions, no injuries were reported.