ANKARA, Turkey (AP) – Armed pirates attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the west coast of Africa, hijacking 15 sailors and killing one, officials said on Sunday as Turkey tried to recover the captured crew.
The Liberian flag M / V Mozart was sailing from Lagos, Nigeria, to Cape Town, South Africa, when he was attacked on Saturday morning, 100 nautical miles (185 kilometers) northwest of the island nation of São Tomé and Prince.
Turkey’s Maritime Directorate said the crew initially locked themselves in a safe area, but the pirates forced entry after six hours. During the fight, a crew member died on board. He identified the victim as Azerbaijan engineer Farman Ismayilov, the only non-Turkish crew member.
After hijacking most of the crew, the pirates left the ship in the Gulf of Guinea with three sailors on board, state news agency Anadolu said. According to reports, the pirates disabled most of the ship’s systems, leaving only the navigation system for the remaining crew to find their way to Port-Gentil in Gabon.
The Gulf of Guinea, off the coast of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin and Cameroon, is the most dangerous sea in the world for piracy, according to the International Maritime Bureau.
Maritime security consultancy Dryad Global described the attack as “an exceptional incident for its severity and distance from the coast.” Last year, shipments in West African waters rose from 13 in 2019 to 18, added the London-based company.
Mevlut Cavusoglu, Turkey’s foreign minister, said he spoke to the senior officer who remained at Mozart, Furkan Yaren, and that the morale and physical condition of the sailors on board were good.
“We continue coordinated negotiations for the release” of the kidnapped sailors, he said. “The pirates have not yet given an answer.”
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke to Yaren twice, his office said in a tweet. He added that Erdogan issued orders for the recovery of the hijacked crew.
“The owners and operators of M / V Mozart, who was kidnapped at gunpoint in the Gulf of Guinea, unfortunately confirmed that one of their crew was killed and others kidnapped,” said Boden Maritime, based in Istanbul.
Among the captives is the ship’s captain, Mustafa Kaya, 41. His brother Seyit, from Istanbul, said the sailors’ families were called by Erdogan.
“We hope to see them free and unharmed soon,” he said. “Everyone is trying. We pray for our brothers. “
In July 2019, 10 Turkish sailors were abducted off the coast of Nigeria. They were released less than a month later.