Seven crew members of the Portuguese flagged containership MSC Talia F have been kidnapped off Gabon

The boarding took place some 52 nautical miles West of Port Libreville, the Gabonese Republic.

“It is believed that the vessel has a crew of 17 all understood to be Ukrainian nationals. The vessel is believed to have been en-route from Lomé to Port Libreville at the time of boarding,” Dryad said in a report.

The 2005-built feedermax is owned by Greek Technomar Shipping and managed by Switzerland-based MSC, data from VesselsValue shows.

Owners and managers of the ship are yet to comment on the matter

As informed, this is the first incident within this area in 2020. Within 2019 there were 4 recorded incidents at Port Libreville and the Owendo Anchorage involving a spate of incidents in December 2019.

One of those incidents resulted in the kidnapping of four Chinese fishermen and later the crew from a vessel transiting from Douala to Port Libreville, Dryad said.