Incidents of piracy remain recurrent in the Gulf of Guinea. Earlier this week, five foreign sailors were abducted off the coast of Benin. Attacks on ships and kidnappings of sailors are reaching alarming proportions making the Gulf of Guinea the number one pirate haven in the world. On Monday, May 31, a fishing vessel was stormed by armed pirates 108 nautical miles off Cotonou in Benin. According to maritime security consultant Dryad Global, four South Korean sailors and one Filipino were kidnapped.

The vessel, which was the object of the attack, was identified as the Iris-S, a 62-meter vessel flying the Ghanaian flag and operated by D-H Fisheries. It left from the Ghanaian port of Tema and had 36 crew members on board. This is the second attack involving a Ghanaian fishing vessel in less than two weeks in the Gulf of Guinea.

According to Dryad Global, 61 people have been kidnapped in six incidents on vessels operating in the Gulf of Guinea since the beginning of the year. Last month, 234 companies and shipowners called for an international coalition to more effectively combat maritime piracy, which reached record highs in 2020 in the Gulf of Guinea.