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Two released hostages returned home

Two Egyptians crew members who were held hostage on athe 'Milan' off Nigeria, have returned home. The naval officer Saad Shawky and marine engineer Kiorles Samir, were received on Jan 8, 2021, by Ambassador Amr Mahmoud Abbas, Assistant Minister of Foreign Affairs for Consular Affairs and Egyptians Abroad. Thy had been aboard the ship when it was boarded by pirates on Nov 26, 2020. The Egyptian Embassy in Abuja exerted intense efforts to communicate with all the relevant authorities and agencies in Nigeria. The embassy staff, along with the Nigerian authorities, also undertook close, around-the-clock monitoring of the developments regarding the crisis. They also closely coordinated with the company that owns the ship, and the embassies of the countries to which the other kidnapped crew members belong, in order to ensure the safety of the two Egyptians, and to secure their successful release. The embassy in Abuja maintained contact with Shawky and Samir, and made sure that they contacted their families in Egypt to reassure them of their well-being. The Egyptian embassy in Yaoundé continued to complete the process of returning the two sailors home following their release.

Two crew members released

Two Egyptians crew members of the 'Milan' have been released as part of 10 who had been apprehended by pirates on the Nigerian coast. The Lebanese owner, Adnan al-Kout, said Dec 21 that the Egyptian nationals were sound and have not been harmed in any way. The 'Milan' was apprehended by pirates during its journey to Cameroon. The Egyptian embassy in Nigeria was coordinating with the authorities to bring the crew back to safety after the pirates abandoned the ship. The Egyptians included a marine engineer and officer. The others included 3 Lebanese and four Indians. Saad Shawky called his family earlier on Dec 21 and said he and the engineer Kirolos Samir are both fine and will come to Cairo soon.

10 crew members taken hostage

On Nov 25, 2020, the 'Molan' has been boarded by pirates 14 nautical miles NNM of the Pennington Terminal, about 10 nautical miles from the shore resulting in the kidnap of 10 crew members. The vessel was en route from Escravos to Douala, Cameroon. AIS indicated that the vessel was in a southbound transit when she stopped on the evening hours. With the confirmation of kidnapping the total number of crew kidnapped from vessels operating in the Gulf of Guinea in 2020 was 128 across 24 incidents. It was the 6th boarding incident (excluding Lagos) within Nigerian TTW in 2020.