Naval security guards thwarted an attempted boarding of a chemical tanker by pirates off Guinea on Wednesday.
Security company Africa Risk Compliance (ARC) reported that the incident took place at 0150 local time at the anchorage off Conakry.
The unnamed 182-metre-long Portugal-flag tanker was 18 nautical miles (33 km) offshore.
An unknown number of criminals were spotted in a small boat with a ladder on board.
It is unclear if the raiders were armed.
“Whilst on security duty a crew member noticed a small boat at the rear of the vessel,” ARC said. “He pointed a flashlight at the boat and saw the perpetrators preparing a long ladder to board the vessel.
“The seafarer immediately notified the duty officer and the embarked navy team. After being noticed, the small boat immediately fled away from the vessel at high speed. All safe on board,” the company added.
No injuries were reported and there was no damage to the ship or cargo.
AIS data showed no tankers at the anchorage on Wednesday. A Greek product carrier had left the area before the reported time of the incident.
Security company Ambrey said there were six people on board the pirate craft.
The tanker had an estimated 7.4m freeboard at the time.
The ship had previously departed from Conakry and had been anchored for 179 hours before the incident occurred. Ambrey observed no response from authorities.
The number of piracy incidents in the Gulf of Guinea has spiked in recent weeks.
On 30 June, six seafarers were kidnapped from the 1,300-dwt cargo ship Oya 1 (built 1986) by a criminal gang at the anchorage off Douala in Cameroon.
The vessel is owned by Ocean Express of Pointe Noire.
The Panama flag Oya 1 had arrived from Luanda in Angola.
Warning from navies
The ship was about one nautical mile off the port when it was boarded, and had been anchored there since the previous day.
Three days before this incident, navies operating in the area had assessed there was a credible threat and risk to merchant vessels, especially those transiting waters off Nigeria, Cameroon and Equatorial Guinea.
The previous week, a number of seafarers were injured when the 63,000-dwt Suisse-Atlantique bulker Nyon (built 2021) was boarded off Conakry.
Security companies reported that crew members were attacked during the 30-minute raid on a Marshall Islands flag vessel 33 km (21 miles) southwest of the port.
Four criminals boarded the ship with bladed weapons and used force to take money from the safe before fleeing.
