Christiania Gas has confirmed that nine crew members were taken hostage after pirates attacked its LPG tanker, CGAS SATURN, off the coast of Equatorial Guinea, in the Gulf of Guinea early on Wednesday.
The vessel, which managed to relocate to safer waters after the incident, still has four seafarers on board. All are reported safe, though one suffered minor injuries and is receiving treatment from the ship’s medical team.
The company voiced profound concern over the kidnapping, stressing that its immediate priority is to make contact with the missing crew and secure their safe and swift release.
It added that its emergency response team is working closely with relevant authorities, all of whom were alerted as soon as the attack occurred.
Christiania Gas said it is keeping in close touch with the families of the abducted seafarers and acknowledged the distress the situation has caused. It also cautioned that it would not be issuing further public updates so as not to endanger those involved.
The attack underscores the continuing volatility in the Gulf of Guinea, a region long regarded as one of the world’s most perilous maritime corridors.
Despite an overall decline in piracy in recent years, the threat of crew kidnappings persists. Data from the International Maritime Bureau’s Piracy Reporting Centre shows that the region recorded fifteen piracy incidents in the first nine months of 2025, up from twelve during the same period in 2024.
Fourteen crew members were abducted between January and September this year, and in August a product tanker was boarded off the coast of Ghana, though all thirteen crew members escaped unharmed.
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