The product tanker Energy Centurion with 24 Russian crew members was hijacked in the Gulf of Guinea. The vessel was headed to Lome, Togo, when armed pirates attacked it and open fire to the tanker. All the crew was reported to be in good health, but the position of the vessel is unknown. The product tanker Energy Centurion was loaded with 50,000 tons of gasoil and most probably the vessel was attacked for cargo stealing. The pirates attacks in the Western Africa and the Gulf of Guinea became more frequent, as a few days ago another product tanker was hijacked and released after 5 days. Usually the pirates are interested only with cargo stealing and attack product tankers and chemical tankers in the region, as they have low free board and low speed. The navy presence in the Gulf of Guinea is quite smalled than in Eastern Africa, which makes pirates to be bolder and to attack larger ships.
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