Ship with 22 Indian crew missing off Benin

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An oil tanker with a crew of 22 Indians and carrying 13,500 tons of gasoline is missing off the coast of the West African nation of Benin.

The vessel managed by MT Marine Express lost contact on Thursday last week, India’s ministry of external affairs spokesperson confirmed in a tweet. It said, “A merchant vessel Marine Express, owned by Mumbai-based Anglo-Eastern shipping company with 22 Indian nationals onboard, is presumably missing off the coast of Benin in the Gulf of Guinea.”

The ship operators in a statement maintained that they are concerned over the safety of crew members and making efforts to establish contact with the missing ship. "We regret that contact has been lost with the AE-managed MT Marine Express while at Cotonou, Benin,” it said.

“The last contact was at 03:30 UTC, Feb 1. Authorities have been alerted and are responding. Our top priority is the safety of the crew, whose families have been contacted,” the shipping company said.

There is widespread fear that the ship has been hijacked by pirates. According to the International Maritime Bureau, there were 180 pirate attacks off West Africa last year.

A ship owned by Union Maritime was hijacked on January 10 at Bight of Benin, and released after a week of negotiations.

Sushma Swaraj, the Indian minister of external affairs, in a tweet said, “We are making all out efforts in coordination with Nigerian and Benin naval authorities to trace the missing ship.”

The ministry has also set up a helpline number (+234)9070343860 to gather information about the missing ship.

With input from agencies