Gulf of Guinea Kidnapping and Ransom Racket; 5 South Koreans , 1 Ghanaian Taken Off Fishing Vessel

Panofi Frontier vessel (Yonhap)

Five South Korean sailors abducted in waters off Benin reports The Korea Herald

Five South Korean sailors and a Ghanaian have been kidnapped by unidentified armed groups in waters off Benin in West Africa, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday.

 

Unknown gunmen, believed to be pirates, attacked the fishing vessel at about 3:40 p.m. Wednesday, Benin time, in waters 111 kilometers south of the country’s Contonou Port.

 

A total of 30 crew members were onboard the Ghanaian-flagged Panofi Frontier ship, but the kidnappers took off with only six people. The remaining 24 sailors, who are all Ghanaian, are returning to Ghana on the vessel.

 

As of press time, the identity and whereabouts of the kidnappers have not been identified. It was not immediately known whether the abductees remained unharmed.

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) for 17 October 2019 - 20 November 2019 and HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/SOUTHEAST ASIA Weekly Piracy Update for 14 to 20 November 2019

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval I... by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 April - 16 May 2018 and HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis and Warning Weekly (PAWW) Report for 10 - 16 May 2018

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 16 April - 16 May 2018 by lawofsea on Scribd

U. S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence HORN OF AFRICA/GULF OF GUINEA/ SOUTHEAST ASIA: Piracy Analysis and... by lawofsea on Scribd

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence : Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 26 April - 25 May 2016

Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 26 April - 25 May 2016:

U.S. Navy Office of Naval Intelligence : Worldwide Threat to Shipping (WTS) Report 26 April - 25 May 2016

Also, not in the report yet, Guyana Pirates:

Police said the cutlass-wielding pirates attacked the Guyanese fishermen at about 11 PM on Friday, May 27, 2016, dumping the five fishermen aboard and carting off their outboard motor. The captain, Seepersaud Persaud, was rescued but one of his fishermen, Hemchand Sukhdeo of Number 55 Village, Corentyne, died and his body was recovered. Feared dead are Dhanpaul Rampaul of No. 67 Village, Corentyne, Dochand “Bucher”, 54, of No. 55 Village, Corentyne; and 26-year old Munesh “Boyo” Churram.
“We are working along with our Surinamese counterparts to see if we can recover bodies,” said the Divisional Commander.
The Divisional Commander said investigators were also working to ascertain whether the detainees were also responsible for a second vessel that was attacked the same night. No one aboard that vessel was injured but the boat’s engine was stolen.

Sulu Sea: "Five fishermen shot dead in Philippine sea attack"

Not sure this is piracy or some sort of fishing turf war or something else, "Five fishermen shot dead in Philippine sea attack":

Gunmen aboard a speedboat shot dead five members of a fishing crew in a mysterious attack in the seas of the southern Philippines, the coast guard said Saturday.

The five were part of a fishing fleet off the troubled southern islands of Sulu when the gunmen attacked them on Friday, said coast guard spokesman Lieutenant Jomark Angue.

Even as the five leapt overboard, the gunmen riddled them with bullets, then sped off. Only three of the bodies were recovered, he said.

The attackers were suspected to be pirates Angue added. But it was unclear why they would attack the fishing boat crew.

Law-enforcement sources said the attack might be part of an extortion attempt by armed groups operating in Sulu, an impoverished, heavily-forested group of islands.