Incident Alert – Vessel Boarded by Suspected Pirates in the Gulf of Guinea

Incident Details

The MDAT-GoG has issued Advisory 25/009 regarding reports that a merchant vessel had been boarded by four unauthorised individuals from a black-hulled craft. The robbers left the vessel after approximately four hours, taking the crew’s belongings and ship’s property. The crew remained in the citadel throughout the incident and are reported to be safe. The vessel is proceeding to its next port of call.

Fig1. Location of Incident – 104nm  Southwest of Brass, Nigeria

Comment. The vessel involved in this incident is reported to be the Marshall Islands-flagged tanker SEA PANTHER. The reports suggest that the suspected pirates tried unsuccessfully to gain access to the citadel and then left the ship. This is the first boarding reported in the Nigerian EEZ since November 2021, but the fifth boarding in the Gulf of Guinea in 2025 – a 30% increase on the same period last year.

Assessment. It is unclear at this time whether this incident is linked to other recent piracy incidents, which have been attributed to a suspected Pirate Action Group operating in the east of the region. What is clear is that the master and ship were prepared for such an event and followed the mitigation guidance given in the recently released BMP Maritime Security (BMP-MS). On this occasion, the use of a citadel most likely prevented the vessel and crew from being seized or the cargo from being offloaded. Ships are reminded to remain vigilant when operating in the area and to comply with the advice given in bmp-ms_hi-res_s.pdf.