BW Reveals Fate of Kidnapped Crew

BW Offshore has revealed that all of its employees who were kidnapped from its Sendje Berge FPSO back in July have been safely released.

“The company would like to extend its gratitude to those involved in the safe release of everyone who was abducted from the FPSO Sendje Berge,” the company said in a statement posted on its website late last week.

Last month, BW Offshore announced that the FPSO was subject to an attack by pirates offshore Nigeria at approximately 4:20am local time on July 2. Nine Nigerian nationals were said to have been kidnapped in the attack.

In a statement published on its website on July 15, the ICC International Maritime Bureau (IMB) noted that the Gulf of Guinea off West Africa is increasingly dangerous for commercial shipping and highlighted that the region accounted for just over 90 percent of maritime kidnappings worldwide from January to June this year.

During the first half of 2020, 49 crew were kidnapped for ransom in the Gulf of Guinea and held captive on land for up to six weeks, according to the IMB. The organization warned that rates are accelerating and outlined that 32 crew had been kidnapped in the past three months alone.

“Violence against crews is a growing risk in a workforce already under immense pressure,” IMB Director Michael Howlett said in an organization statement published on the group’s website.

“In the Gulf of Guinea attackers armed with knives and guns now target crews on every type of vessel. Everyone’s vulnerable,” he added in the statement.

“We need to change the risk-to-reward ratio for pirates operating within the Gulf of Guinea. Without an appropriate and proportionate deterrent, pirates and robbers will get more ruthless and more ambitious, increasing the risk to seafarers,” Howlett continued.

BW Offshore describes itself as a leading provider of floating production services to the oil and gas industry. The ICC describes itself as the world’s largest business organization with a network of over 6.5 million members in more than 130 countries.

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