A group of armed men attacked the FPSO Sendje Berge some 30 nautical miles southwest from Bonny Island on Thursday, kidnapping nine of its crew members.

The FPSO was operating on the Okwori field in Nigeria on contract to Addax Petroleum.

UK-based security intel firm, Dryad Global had first cited a ‘high confidence’ report, according to which 11 crew members of the FPSO were suspected of being kidnapped.

The incident was later confirmed by BW Offshore, the owner of the FPSO, saying that 9 Nigerians were kidnapped from the oil platform.

“On 2 July 2020, at approximately 4:20 am local time, BW Offshore’s FPSO Sendje Berge was subject to an attack by pirates offshore Nigeria in which nine Nigerian nationals were kidnapped,” the company said.

“The incident onboard the FPSO has ended and none of those remaining onboard have suffered physical injuries.”

BW Offshore added it was cooperating with local authorities, represented on site by the Nigerian Navy.

“It is assessed that this attack is unique within the wider realm of off shore incidents within West Africa. Both the manner of attack and target are beyond the usual targeting and attack methodology of pirate action groups within Nigeria. Reports indicated that explosives were used during the attack,” Dryad said.

“This latest attack brings the total number of kidnapped personal in maritime incidents within West Africa to 74 in 2020. Kidnap reporting within 2020 is currently tracking at 51% higher than that of 2019 across the same time period.”

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