An oil tanker carrying 24 Indian crew members has been hijacked by pirates off the coast of Gabon.
The Malta-flagged MV Cotton was taken 15miles off the port of Gentil early on Monday morning.
Reports from Gabon indicate the ship was now believed to be in Nigerian waters.
“The ship was hijacked during night,” Ahmet Riza Demirer, Turkish Ambassador to Gabon, told reporters.
“Unfortunately, the ship is sailing now. There is no contact with the crew. We are cooperating with Cameroon and Nigeria.”
The tanker was partly loaded with fuel oil and was awaiting berthing at the time of the attack. According to a Gobonese naval source, the tanker was attacked by 12 to 15 gunmen armed with AK-47 assault rifles.
It has not been confirmed whether any ransom had been asked by the hijackers.
This is the first attack of the sort off the coast of Gabon in five years, although a recent surge in incidents off neighbouring countries has been recorded.