After a pirate attack, the Monjasa Reformer has been situated in the Gulf of Guinea - Six crew members are missing
Four days after being attacked by pirates and going missing in the Gulf of Guinea, the tanker Monjasa Reformer was located by a patrol vessel belonging to the French Navy. And six crew members are reported missing.
Using an aerial drone, the Premier Maître L’Her, a French Navy vessel, located the Monjasa Reformer on Thursday before proceeding to rescue and provide assistance to the crew. The operation was conducted in collaboration with regional partners as well as the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade Gulf of Guinea (MDAT GoG) information center.
The Liberia-flagged oil tanker Monjasa Reformer, with 16 crew members on board, reported an attack by five armed pirates while situated about 140 nautical miles (nm) to the west of Pointe Noire, Congo on Saturday, March 25, at 22:39 UTC. This information was relayed to relevant authorities by MDAT GoG, which is located in Brest, France, and Portsmouth, UK.
With the Maritime Rescue Coordination Center (MRCC) Monrovia, regional navies, and the MDAT-GoG providing support and communication with the ship's owner, Premier Maître L'Hier of the French Navy carried out Operation Corymbe by heading towards the tanker's most recent location.
On Tuesday, the vessel's location briefly surfaced on AIS, approximately 470 nautical miles from its previous recorded position.
On March 30, Premier Maître L’Her utilized an aerial drone to locate the Monjasa Reformer on its way to Nigeria and spotted a pirate boat nearby. However, a subsequent reconnaissance flight revealed that the pirate boat had departed. Later that evening, Premier Maître L’Her received a distress message from Monjasa Reformer stating that six crew members had been kidnapped by pirates, while the vessel was approximately 90nm south of Bonny. As a result, the patrol vessel launched a rescue operation and sent an inspection team comprising a nurse and a doctor in collaboration with Nigerian authorities to the tanker.On March 30, Premier Maître L’Her utilized an aerial drone to locate the Monjasa Reformer on its way to Nigeria and spotted a pirate boat nearby. However, a subsequent reconnaissance flight revealed that the pirate boat had departed. Later that evening, Premier Maître L’Her received a distress message from Monjasa Reformer stating that six crew members had been kidnapped by pirates, while the vessel was approximately 90nm south of Bonny. As a result, the patrol vessel launched a rescue operation and sent an inspection team comprising a nurse and a doctor in collaboration with Nigerian authorities to the tanker.
After conducting an initial medical examination, the onboard doctor treated three crew members for their minor injuries. The next day, on Friday morning, the Nigerian patrol vessel NNS Gongola arrived in the vicinity, and Premier Maître L’Her accompanied Monjasa Reformer to the port of Lomé, in collaboration with the shipowner.
As a result of the piracy threat, MDAT-GoG has released a warning to mariners in the region, advising them to exercise extreme caution while navigating the area.