An oil tanker with a crew of 22 Indian nationals is missing in the Gulf of Guinea off Benin in West Africa.

There has been no contact with the Panama-registered Marine Express since Thursday.

The incident occurred less than a month after another vessel was taken by pirates in the same area.

The International Maritime Bureau said the Benin navy was searching for the Marine Express, which is carrying 13,500 tonnes of gasoline.

In January, a ship was hijacked in the same area but was released six days later when a ransom was paid.

Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj said her government was working with authorities in the region.

The ship is managed by Hong Kong-based Anglo-Eastern.

The BBC's Will Ross says that Africa's most dangerous waters used to be off Somalia but, after the deployment of international warships, the situation there has improved.

There are now more attacks in West Africa - more than one a week in 2017.</s>India says it has sought the help of the Nigerian and Benin navies to find an oil tanker that has gone missing with 22 Indian crew members off Benin's coast.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed late Sunday that the tanker, Marine Express, went missing in the Gulf of Guinea.

It's not known whether the ship was hijacked for ransom or to steal the nearly 13,500 tonnes (15,120 tons) of gasoline on board.

The ship, owned by a Mumbai company, has been missing since Jan. 31 with no contact with the crew so far, according to Indian media reports.

International efforts have brought down the threat of piracy off Somalia's coast in recent years. Concerns about piracy off Africa's coast have now largely shifted to the Gulf of Guinea.</s>India has sought the help of the Nigerian and Benin navies to find an oil tanker that has gone missing with 22 Indian crew members off Benin's coast.

External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj confirmed late Sunday that the tanker, Marine Express, went missing in the Gulf of Guinea.

 

 It's not known whether the ship was hijacked for ransom or to steal the nearly 13,500 tonnes (15,120 tons) of gasoline on board.

 

 The ship, owned by a Mumbai company, has been missing since Jan. 31 with no contact with the crew so far, according to Indian media reports.

 

 In January, another oil tanker, MT Barret, went missing off the coast of the West African nation of Benin. That crew of 22, mostly Indians, was released within days after a ransom was paid to the pirates, the Press Trust of India news agency said. It didn't give any details.

 

 Ship hijackings and kidnappings of crew are common in the region, with hostages often released unharmed after a ransom is paid. Bandits usually target oil tankers and sell the crude.

 

 International efforts have brought down the threat of piracy off Somalia's coast in recent years. Concerns about piracy off Africa's coast have now largely shifted to the Gulf of Guinea.</s>Feb. 4 (UPI) -- An oil tanker carrying 22 Indian crew members and thousands of tons of gas was reported missing off the coast of West Africa Sunday, India's foreign ministry said.

The merchant vessel Marine Express went missing off the coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea, India's foreign minister Sushma Swaraj announced on Twitter.

"We are making all out efforts in coordination with Nigerian and Benin naval authorities to trace the missing ship," Swaraj said.

She added a 24-hour hotline has also been established as part of the search operations.

Hong Kong-based shipping company Anglo-Eastern, which owns the ship, said contact was last made with the vessel on Thursday.

"All the appropriate authorities have been alerted and are responding," the company said. "Our first priority is of course the safety of the 22 crew members on board, whose families have been contacted and informed of the situation."

It is believed the ship, carrying 13,500 tons of gasoline may have been hijacked by pirates, India Today reported.

Nigeria's Coast Guard is also on the lookout for the ship.</s>A petrol tanker with a crew of 22 Indians has been missing for the past two days, Mid-Day reported on Saturday. The MT Marine Express, owned by the Hong Kong-based Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, was last contacted when it was off the West African nation of Benin. It was carrying 13,500 tonnes of petrol worth $8.1 million(Rs 51.95 crore).

“Authorities have been alerted and are responding,” the company said in a statement. “Our top priority is the safety of the crew, whose families have been contacted.”

Awunga Shatsang Prem Ramyo, an Assistant Attaché at the Indian High Commission in Abuja, Nigeria, told The New Indian Express that the vessel was last heard from on January 31 when it had docked at Cotonou in Benin. The shipping company, however, said that the last contact was at 9 am (Indian Standard Time) on February 1. Later, the satellites attempted to track the ship but failed to locate it.

The Gulf of Guinea, off Cotonou, is known for a high risk of piracy, Maritime Executive reported. On January 9, the British shipping firm Union Maritime lost contact with the product tanker Barrett, which was at anchor off Cotonou. Pirates had hijacked the Barrett, and held her crew members captive for six days while a “resolution process” was worked out. The pirates later let the crew and the vessel go.</s>DAKAR/MUMBAI (Reuters) - A ship carrying 22 Indian crew and 13,500 tons of gasoline is missing in the Gulf of Guinea after contact was lost in Benin on Friday, the company and India’s minister of external affairs said on Sunday.

The Gulf of Guinea has become an increasing target for pirates who steal cargo and demand ransoms, even as piracy incidents fall worldwide, experts say.

The Marine Express tanker, managed by Hong Kong-based Anglo-Eastern, was last see in Benin’s waters at 3:30 a.m. GMT on Friday after which contact was lost, an Anglo Eastern spokesman told Reuters.

The cause of the loss of communication was unknown and a search was underway, conducted with help from Nigerian and Beninese authorities, Anglo-Eastern said.

“We regret that contact has been lost with the vessel, which was the Cotonou Anchorage in Benin, West Africa,” the spokesman said.

India’s minister of external affairs Sushma Swaraj said on Twitter that 22 Indian nationals were onboard.

Piracy-related issues were a decade ago focussed off the east African coast, particularly Somalia’s unpoliced waters. But the Gulf of Guinea threat has increased.

Ships in the area were the target of a series of piracy-related incidents last year, according to a January report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which highlighted the waters off West Africa as an area of growing concern.

There were ten incidents of kidnapping involving 65 crew members in or around Nigerian waters, the IMB said. Globally 16 vessels reported being fired upon, seven of which were in the Gulf of Guinea.

On Jan. 10 a company lost communication with its tanker anchored in Cotonou, according to the IMB. After a six-day search, the tanker and crew were found safely in Lagos after the tanker owner negotiated with the hijackers, IMB said.</s>Dakar/Mumbai: A ship carrying 22 Indian crew and 13,500 tons of gasoline went missing in the piracy-plagued waters off the Benin coast in the Gulf of Guinea near West Africa, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said on Sunday.

The Marine Express tanker, managed by Hong Kong-based Anglo-Eastern, was last seen on Friday in Benin`s waters at 3:30 am GMT after which contact was lost, an Anglo Eastern spokesperson told news agency Reuters.

The cause of the loss of communication was unknown and a search was underway, conducted with help from Nigerian and Beninese authorities, Anglo-Eastern said.

"We regret that contact has been lost with the vessel, which was the Cotonou Anchorage in Benin, West Africa," the spokesperson said.

Earlier, External Affairs Ministry spokesperson Raveesh Kumar had tweeted, “A merchant vessel Marine Express [oil tanker], owned by the Mumbai-based Anglo-Eastern shipping company with 22 Indian nationals on board, is presumably missing off the coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea.”

Minister of External Affairs Sushma Swaraj also said on Twitter that 22 Indian nationals were onboard. The minister further said that we are making "all-out efforts" in coordination with Nigerian and Benin naval authorities to trace the missing ship.

Piracy-related issues were a decade ago focused on the east African coast, particularly Somalia`s unpoliced waters. But the Gulf of Guinea threat has increased.

Ships in the area were the target of a series of piracy-related incidents last year, according to a January report by the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), which highlighted the waters off West Africa as an area of growing concern.

There were ten incidents of kidnapping involving 65 crew members in or around Nigerian waters, the IMB said. Globally 16 vessels reported being fired upon, seven of which were in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to the IMB, on January 10, a company lost communication with its tanker anchored in Cotonou. After a six-day search, the tanker and crew were found safely in Lagos after the tanker owner negotiated with the hijackers, IMB said.</s>A search has been launched for an Indian-owned oil tanker that has gone missing in a part of West Africa that is rife with piracy.

India has asked for help from the Benin and Nigerian navies to find the Marine Express, which has 22 Indian crew members on board and was last heard from off the coast of Benin on Thursday.

India's External Affairs minister Sushma Swaraj said on Sunday that the vessel had gone missing in the Gulf of Guinea.

She tweeted: "Merchant Ship Marine Express with 22 Indian nationals is missing off the Coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea. We are making all out efforts in coordination with Nigerian and Benin naval authorities to trace the missing ship. We have set up a Helpline no. (+234)9070343860."

It is unclear whether the ship was hijacked and, if so, whether it might have been for ransom or for the 13,500 tonnes (15,120 tons) of oil on board.

Nigerian authorities have alerted all boats to look out for the missing ship and inform shipping authorities if it is sighted.

The ship's Mumbai-based manning agent, Anglo-Eastern Ship Management, confirmed it had lost contact with the vessel: "We regret that contact has been lost with the AE-managed MT Marine Express while at Cotonou, Benin. Last contact was at 03:30 UTC, Feb 1. Authorities have been alerted and are responding. Our top priority is the safety of the crew, whose families have been contacted."

According to tracking data, the last contact with the vessel was while it was at anchorage at Cotonou.

The Gulf of Guinea is the most prolific area for piracy in the world, according to the International Maritime Bureau, although maritime piracy and armed robbery reached a 22-year-low in 2017.

It has replaced the coast of Somalia, where heavy international action has driven down piracy.

Hostages are often released unharmed after a ransom is paid. Bandits usually target oil tankers and sell the crude.

In January, another oil tanker, the MT Barrett, went missing off the Benin coast, but the mostly Indian crew of 22 was released after a ransom was paid.</s>KASARGOD: A tanker vessel with 22 Indians on board has gone missing off the coast of Benin, a West African country. It is the second ship to have gone missing in as many months in this region.

 One of the sailors on board 'MT Marine Express' is Sree Unni (25), son of Perilavallap Ashokan of Udma in Kasargod, said his relatives.Mumbai-based Anglo Eastern Ship Management, which owns the vessel, informed them it lost contact with Marine Express on January 31. Another Malayali, from Kozhikode, is also on board.

Awunga Shatsang Prem Ramyo, assistant attaché in High Commission of India at Abuja, told Express the Panama-registered vessel had anchored at Cotonou in Benin on January 31. "That was the last contact we had," said Ramyo. Later, at 2.36 am on February 1, satellite tracking found the ship missing from anchorage.The vessel, carrying 13,500 tonnes of gasoline, may have been hijacked for ransom or attacked by pirates for the gas. The cargo is reportedly worth `52 crore.

Ramyo said India has sought the help of the navies of Nigeria and Benin to find the ship. "They're conducting search operations now," he said.The officer said it was not possible to know what happened to the vessel without getting in touch with the crew.The Directorate General of Shipping and the Ministry of Shipping too have contacted their counterparts in Nigeria and Benin to help locate the missing vessel.Reports said aerial search was conducted by Nigerian forces in and around the location where the vessel anchored, but it ended in vain.</s>New Delhi: An oil tanker with 22 Indians onboard is presumably missing off the coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea. Indian authorities based in Nigeria have sought the country's help in locating the missing oil tanker.

"A merchant vessel Marine Express (oil tanker), owned by Mumbai-based Anglo-Eastern shipping company with 22 Indian nationals onboard, is presumably missing off the coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea," Ministry of External Affairs tweeted.

"Our mission in Abuja (Nigeria) is in touch with the authorities in Benin and Nigeria for their help in locating the ship and is constantly monitoring the situation. A 24-hour helpline number set up by the Embassy for information on those missing is +234-9070343860," the MEA said another tweet.

The owners of the tanker, which was loaded with gas oil, have urged the Directorate General of Shipping in Mumbai to get in touch with their counterparts in Nigeria and Benin to carry out search operations for the merchant ship.

According to reports, MT Marine Express carrying 13,500 tonnes of gasoline vanished from West Africa and a possibility of hijack is high.

Meanwhile, Nigerian authorities have alerted all boats to look out for the missing tanker ship and if sighted to report to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) Anti-Piracy Reporting Centre immediately in London.
An Anglo-Eastern Group oil tanker with 22 Indian crew members on board is reported missing off the coast of Benin. The area is well known for piracy.