A French ship was seized by pirates off the coast of Nigeria during the weekend, with nine crew members taken hostage, the French media reported on Monday.
According to the report, the ship, Bourbon Leda, which belongs to the French maritime services company Bourbon, was attacked off Bonny, a major oil and gas terminal in southern Nigeria in the night of Jan. 3 to Jan. 4. The nine crew members included five Nigerians, two Ghanaians, one Cameroonian and one Indonesian.
The company was allowed to contact the ship through a call on Jan. 4, and all crew members were confirmed to be safe and in good health.
One of the two biggest oil producers in sub-Saharan Africa, Nigeria is facing a surge of violence featuring armed kidnap and sabotage. In October, another ship belonging to Bourbon was attacked by pirates off the Nigerian coast. In August, two French crew members aboard a Bourbon ship were kidnapped, and they were not freed until September.