Oil tanker ship with 22 Indians missing from West Africa: MEA
New Delhi : The Ministry of External Affairs has informed that an oil tanker ship with 22 Indians on-board has gone missing from coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea.
MEA spokesperson Raveesh Kumar in a tweet said, "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."
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.
— Anurag Srivastava (@MEAIndia) February 3, 2018
Indian authorities based in Nigeria have sought for help in locating the missing vessel, he added.
"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," he mentioned in another tweet.
As per media reports, it is suspected that the ship has been hijacked in West Africa. 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.
