Norwegian freighter attacked off Nigeria

July 16 2008 at 02:55PM

Oslo - A Norwegian freighter was attacked by pirates off Nigeria early on Wednesday, reports said.

The Joint Rescue Co-ordination Centre for southern Norway was alerted about the attack against the Spar Gemini off Port Harcourt.

A rescue centre spokesperson said eight of the ten pirates were armed but there were no reports of serious injuries during the roughly two-hour long attack, the online edition of the Bergens Tidende newspaper reported.

The attackers tied up the crew and roughed up some of them, and stole equipment and money from the vessel.

All of the 22-strong crew were said to be Indian nationals. The ship is operated by a Bergen-based company.


The Norwegian rescue centre said the International Maritime Bureau's Piracy Reporting Centre in Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia had been informed about the incident.

Last week the international piracy watchdog warned of increasingly violent attacks on seafarers, particularly in waters off Nigeria and Somalia. - Sapa-dpa