West African pirates free tanker, seaman killed in unrelated attack

THE 7,114 deadweight tonne French-controlled Luxemburg-flagged tanker Gascogne, seized by pirates off Ivory Coast on February 6 together with a crew of 17, has been released.

Two seafarers suffered injuries in the hijacking and were receiving medical treatment, according to the French shipowner SEA Tankers. But further details were not offered.

The tanker was hijacked by pirates off Abidjan. Ivory Coast Government officials said the crew included seven seafarers from Togo, four from Benin, two from Ivory Coast, two from Senegal and one apiece from China and South Korea, The Associated Press reported.

In another incident off West Africa, a Filipino seafarer was killed when pirates hijacked a medium range tanker off the Nigerian coast on February 4, the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said.

DFA assistant secretary Raul Hernandez said pirates shot and killed the Filipino seafarer when they boarded the 46,700 deadweight tonne ITM-managed Pyxis Delta, registered in the Marshall Islands on February 7.

The hostage-taking was resolved immediately, but Mr Hernandez said the DFA has received only a sketchy preliminary report from the seamen's local manning agent based in Manila. Details remain unclear as to how long the pirates held the ship and how and why they released the vessel and crew.