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See The Moment Nigerian, Benin Navies Rescue A Portuguese’s Vessel From Pirates Attack (Photos)
If not for the timely intervention of the Nigerian Navy and its Benin counterpart who came to save a massive ship from been hijacked from the hands of the pirate along the coastal area, the ship, and all its occupants will have been hijacked by now by the pirates.
Nigerian Navy and Benin Navy recently collaborated to rescue a Portuguese flagged container ship, MV TOMMI RITSCHER which was attacked by pirates. According to reports, the ship has 11 crew members on board a Portuguese flagged container ship, MV TOMMI RITSCHER. The merchant ship which had 19 crew members consisting of Ukrainian, Bulgarian, and Filipino nationals were attacked by pirates in Benin territorial waters on 18 April 2020.
“After the successful boarding of the ship, which eventually was to be unopposed, 11 crew members were rescued from different parts of the ship.
“The vessel was reportedly attacked by unknown number of gunmen at Zone 3 anchorage in Cotonou waters at about 23.00 hours on April 18.
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“Following the pirate attack, the NN received a request for assistance from the Benin Navy under the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of ECOWAS Zone E,”.
The Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) OSE deployed 10 Nigeria Navy special boat services operatives and proceeded to the objective area.
“However, eight crew members of the ship and the pirates could not be located onboard the ship, the SBS remained onboard to ensure the security of the vessel and the crew.
Below are pictures of the rescued vessel with members of the NNS and Benin Navy escorting the vessel to Nigerian waters.
