SkippedOnce
LE

Couldn't ID a previous thread on West Africa, and this appears to be an unusual incident, possibly signalling a new modus. Still, it might give the Turkish Navy something better to do than cutting around the E Med. As if the start of 2021 hadn't already given the world enough to deal with.
'Armed pirates attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the West African coast, kidnapping 15 sailors and killing one of them, officials said Sunday as Turkey sought to recover the captured crew.
'The Liberian-flagged M/V Mozart was sailing from Lagos, Nigeria, to Cape Town in South Africa when it was attacked Saturday morning 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) northwest of the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.
'Turkey's Maritime Directorate said the crew initially locked themselves in a safe area but the pirates forced entry after six hours. During the struggle, one crew member aboard died. It identified the victim as engineer Farman Ismayilov of Azerbaijan, the only non-Turkish crew member.
'After kidnapping most of the crew, the pirates left the ship in the Gulf of Guinea with three sailors aboard, state-run Anadolu news agency said. According to reports, the pirates disabled most of the ship's systems, leaving only the navigation system for the remaining crew to find their way to Gabon's Port-Gentil.
'The Gulf of Guinea, off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon, is the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
'Maritime security consultancy Dryad Global described the attack as an exceptional incident for both its severity and distance from shore. Last year, boardings in the waters off West Africa rose to 18 from 13 in 2019, the London-based firm added.'
www.theweek.in
'Armed pirates attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the West African coast, kidnapping 15 sailors and killing one of them, officials said Sunday as Turkey sought to recover the captured crew.
'The Liberian-flagged M/V Mozart was sailing from Lagos, Nigeria, to Cape Town in South Africa when it was attacked Saturday morning 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) northwest of the island nation of Sao Tome and Principe.
'Turkey's Maritime Directorate said the crew initially locked themselves in a safe area but the pirates forced entry after six hours. During the struggle, one crew member aboard died. It identified the victim as engineer Farman Ismayilov of Azerbaijan, the only non-Turkish crew member.
'After kidnapping most of the crew, the pirates left the ship in the Gulf of Guinea with three sailors aboard, state-run Anadolu news agency said. According to reports, the pirates disabled most of the ship's systems, leaving only the navigation system for the remaining crew to find their way to Gabon's Port-Gentil.
'The Gulf of Guinea, off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon, is the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
'Maritime security consultancy Dryad Global described the attack as an exceptional incident for both its severity and distance from shore. Last year, boardings in the waters off West Africa rose to 18 from 13 in 2019, the London-based firm added.'

Pirates attack Turkish ship off West Africa coast; kill 1, kidnap 15
Turkish President Erdogan has spoken to the ship's captain
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