Pirates Kidnap 10 Turkish Sailors Off Nigeria

Pirates have attacked a ship off the coast of Nigeria and abducted 10 sailors from the Turkish cargo vessel.

Shipping company Kadioglu Denizcilik said Paksoy-1 was sailing without any freight from Cameroon to the Ivory Coast when it was attacked in the Gulf of Guinea.

Another eight sailors remained on board the ship which is now in a harbor in Ghana.

"According to initial information, there were no injuries or casualties. Efforts for all our personnel to be safely released continue," Kadioglu said in a statement.

A report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) called the Gulf of Guinea a "world piracy hotspot," saying that the "seas around West Africa remain the world's most dangerous for piracy."

It found 73% of all kidnappings at sea and 92% of hostage-takings took place in the Gulf of Guinea — off the coasts of Nigeria, Guinea, Togo, Benin, and Cameroon.

Armed pirates kidnapped 27 crew members off the West African coast in the first half of 2019, compared with 25 in the same period in 2018, it said.