Hijacked American vessel spotted in Niger Delta creek

An American oil supply ship, C-Retriever, hijacked off the Coast of Brass in Bayelsa State on October 23, 2013 has been spotted in one of the creeks of the Niger Delta, according to NBC News.
The captain and chief engineer of the ship, both Americans, abducted by the hijackers are still missing.
“It was an eerie sight: an American oil supply ship abandoned in one of the danger-filled creeks that snake through the Niger Delta region, stars and stripes fluttering from its mast, but no sign of life on board. “A crew from NBC News tracked the C-Retriever to the outskirts of the Port of Onne two weeks after pirates boarded it and took hostage the two U.S. citizens on board— the captain and the chief engineer.”
The incident has been cloaked in mystery, with no information on the fate of the two men or where they are being held and the Nigerian Navy refusing to say what became of the vessel after the October 23 attack in the Gulf of Guinea,” NBC News stated in a report it published yesterday.

The media firm also stated that finding the ship was a complicated and potentially perilous operation through waters that have become increasingly popular with pirates and sea-robbers who take cover in the inlets while they stalk victims.”Piracy is surging in Nigeria, with Capt. Richard Phillips declaring it “worse even than Somalia,” where he was taken hostage in 2009 and then rescued by Navy SEALS, a high-seas drama chronicled in a current Tom Hanks movie.
“When we tried to hire two speed boats at a jetty known as Borokri, the locals were reluctant, deeming it too risky to travel with a crew that included a white cameraman and an Asian producer,” it stated. The kidnappers of the two sailors have not made any contact yet with the owners of the vessel or authorities of the Nigerian Navy.
On Tuesday last week, SHIPS & PORTS DAILY reported that the Commanding Officer, Forward Operating Base, Brass, Bayelsa State, Capt. Aniedi Ibok, said that it was curious that the company where the two sailors were working before their alleged abduction had not reported the matter to naval authorities.

He said the only report they heard was from the American Cable Network News that the two sailors were missing.He said while the Navy was working round the clock to find the vessel that was conveying the Americans, information from other crew members on board the C-Retriever vessel could be of vital importance.
“We are still searching our waters to see if we can get the vessel since it was not reported to have been kidnapped. Apart from the reported abducted two Americans, there were other people in the ship. They should be able to talk. They should be able to tell us where they are. They have not made any report. They have not called the Navy, neither have they called the Joint (military) Task Force.
The only report anybody has heard regarding the abduction is from the CNN and nobody can work with that.“The company they are working with should be able to give us information. They cannot be working in Nigeria from America. At least, somebody should be able to tell us what happened,” Ibok said.
He said it would be impossible to have taken the vessel to the creeks.“They could not have taken the vessel to creeks. The vessel is too big to be taken to the creeks. They did not say they kidnapped the vessel. They only said they kidnapped the captain and the chief engineer,” he said.



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