Pirates hijack ship with 23 Indian sailors aboard near Nigeria

naeem@coastaldigest.com (PTI)

September 5, 2012

Paul Ohia Abuja, September 5: An oil tanker with 23 Indian sailors aboard was today hijacked by pirates off the shores of Nigeria, the third such attack in over two weeks in the Gulf of Guinea.

International Maritime Bureau (IMB) officials said the Singapore-owned vessel, MT Abu Dhabi Star, which was carrying fuel, was sailing towards the open sea when it was hijacked. Twenty three Indian sailors were on board the oil tanker operated by the Dubai-based company, Pioneer Ship Management Services LLC. Pat Adamson, the company's spokesperson, told that all the crew on the tanker are Indians.

"There was a call from one of the crew members to the management company saying the vessel was boarded by pirates but nobody was harmed," he said. "Pirates have not yet established contact with the company," Adamsan said, adding "we have not got any report of loot so far."

"We understand that a naval ship is on the way to intercept the vessel," he said. Earlier IMB said the Nigerian authorities had been notified of the attack and were taking action. It said the sailors had locked themselves in a safe room to avoid harm by the attackers who are suspected to be oil thieves from Nigeria's Niger Delta region.

Last month, pirates had hijacked and looted two oil tankers off nearby Togo. The ships and all crew members were later freed. Also, an oil vessel was seized last week by pirates, off the Coast of Togolese capital of Lome and released few days later near Nigeria with its 23 Russian crew members. About 3,000 tonnes of fuel was stolen from the ship. The Gulf of Guinea has witnessed 37 attacks on ships this year alone.

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I prefer ‘deal with Iran’ that enables US military to bomb Iranian nuclear energy facilities: Trump

News Network

May 8,2025

US President Donald Trump says he is willing to reach an agreement with Iran that allows Washington to “blow up” Tehran’s nuclear energy facilities.

“It’s that simple,” he said during an exchange with conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt, on Wednesday.

“I would much prefer a strong, verified deal where we actually blow them up…,” Trump said, referring to Iran’s nuclear facilities.

Deal’s outcome: Either ‘Nice aggression’ or ‘vicious aggression’

The 78-year-old former president added that there were only two possible outcomes, namely “blowing them up nicely or blow them up viciously.”

This is not the first time, Trump and other American officials have urged “total dismantlement” of Iran’s nuclear energy program. The US president had last made the insistence during comments on the NBC's "Meet the Press" program.

Observers said such statements underline the US administration's continued aggressive approach towards the Islamic Republic and its nuclear energy program.

The adversarial standing comes while Washington and Tehran have been engaging in indirect talks since March. The talks’ initiation marked drawn-out absence of such engagement between the two sides that had been caused by Washington’s illegal and unilateral withdrawal from a historic nuclear deal between Tehran and others in 2018.

Most recently, Trump’s regional envoy Steve Witkoff said, “The president wants to see this solved diplomatically if possible, so we’re doing everything we can to get it going."

Trump’s remarks, though, diagonally contradict Witkoff’s statement about the president’s alleged interest in a diplomatic solution.

Trump also said potential American aggression against Iran’s nuclear sites had to result in “de-nuking them.”

The US and its allies have for long been trying to accuse the Islamic Republic of pursuing “nuclear weapons,” despite the country’s repeated avowal not to either pursue, develop, or stockpile such weaponry as per moral and religious imperatives.

Tehran’s peaceful nuclear policy has been verified unexceptionally by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) which has never found any indication of such pursuit, as it has put the country's nuclear activities under the most extensive investigative processes compared to any other member of the United Nations nuclear agency.

The Western narrative, though, has been used extensively to try to justify escalating sanctions, military threats, and covert operations targeting Iran and its nuclear infrastructure.

Nevertheless, the Islamic Republic has invariably vowed to deal effectively with attempts on the part of the US, its allied states, or proxies at engaging in military adventurism against the country.

The assertion was last reiterated by Amir Saeid Iravani, Iran's permanent ambassador to the United Nations, who underscored on Monday that the country would unquestionably defend its sovereignty against any threat or use of force.

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