BW Group has confirmed that one of its LR1 tankers has been hijacked off the West African nation of Togo.

 The 75,678-dwt product tanker BW Rhine (built 2008) was “forcibly removed” from its anchorage off Lome, the Singapore shipowner said.

“Contact was last made with the vessel at 18:30 GMT on 30 April. Ongoing efforts are being made to restore communications,” BW said.

“All possible actions are being taken to track the vessel, and coastal navies have deployed assets to assist the search.”

“The BW Emergency Response Team is continuously monitoring the situation and all relevant parties have been informed.”

The status of the tanker, which is partly loaded with refined fuel, is not known. Reports say the ship arrived in West Africa from Ventspils, Latvia.

News of the hijacking emerged early this week following an alert by the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur.

There are said to be twenty-four crew members onboard and the vessel, but there is no word on their condition.

IMB director Potengal Mukundan said earlier that in similar past cases the pirates would transfer the gasoline cargo to other ships and sell it.

“Here we have criminal gangs whose main purpose is to steal multi-million cargo which is gasoline as it has a ready market.”

“It is very easy to dispose of it. There has been an underground trade in the Gulf of Guinea for decades,” said Mukundan.

Last month Sovcomflot’s 75,000-dwt product tanker SCF Provider (built 2011) fell victim to looters at the Lome anchorage in Togo.

The crew reportedly hid in the ship’s citadel, until the local coast guard arrived on board the vessel and forced the pirates off.

So far in 2012 there have been 19 attacks in the Gulf of Guinea, with two ships hijacked. Some 42 crew have been taken hostage, two killed and two kidnapped by pirates.

"Anchorages off Lome, Cotonou, Lagos, and Port Harcourt are highly susceptible to incidents of armed robbery, kidnap, and possible hijackings," said risk mitigation company AKE.

"Local coast guard and naval capacity is generally insufficient to carry out patrols or provide a reliable emergency response."