Pirates in Gulf of Guinea switch from oil to kidnapping seafarers

With kidnappings in the Gulf of Guinea on the rise, it would appear that pirates now view ransom, as opposed to oil theft, as their new moneymaker.

So far this year, 98 seafarers have been abducted in the waters off West Africa, compared to 93 in 2018.

That total includes nine crew seized on the 58,105-dwt Bonita (built 2010) last Saturday off Benin and four taken from the 94,100-dwt Elka Aristotle (built 2003) on Monday off Togo, according to data from EOS Risk.