COPENHAGEN: Pirates who seized a Danish oil tanker off Congo last week have kidnapped six crew and abandoned ship, the French navy said on Friday.

The Monjasa Reformer had 16 sailors when it was boarded by pirates on March 25. The remaining crew were rescued by a French naval ship. They said “six crew members had been kidnapped by the pirates”, the French navy said in a statement.

The Liberian-flagged tanker was found on Thursday off the coast of Sao Tome and Principe in the Gulf of Guinea.

It had been spotted by a drone from the French patrol boat Premier Maitre L’Her, deployed as part France’s anti-piracy mission Corymbe, the French defence ministry said.

The pirates’ boat, which was alongside the tanker during a first flyover, was not there later. The French navy said three of the remaining crew members had received “minor injuries” and had received treatment.

In an earlier statement, shipowner Monjasa said “the pirates had abandoned the vessel and brought a part of the crew members with them,” without specifying their number or nationalities.

“Our thoughts are with the crew members still missing and their families during this stressful period,” Monjasa said, adding that it was “working closely with the local authorities” to obtain the sailors safe return.

The owner said there was no reported damage to the vessel or cargo.

The 135-metre-long Monjasa Reformer “experienced an emergency situation” on March 25 around 260 kilometres west of Port Pointe-Noire in the Republic of Congo when it was “sitting idle”, Monjasa said.

Published in Dawn, April 1st, 2023