At least 30 commercial ships dropped anchor on Wednesday around Gabon’s waters after military officers said they had seized power in the Central African country.
Military officers in the oil-producing country said they had put President Ali Bongo under house arrest, after the country’s election body announced that he had won a third term. Borders were closed and state institutions were dissolved.
There was already a build-up of vessels backed up on Wednesday.
The vessels included commercial cargo ships as well as tankers that had stopped near to the country’s major ports including Owendo, near to the capital Libreville, and Port Gentil further south, according to ship tracking data.
Local media reported that port operations in Libreville had stopped and no vessels had entered or departed the port since the announcement of the coup.
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