The five crew members of the Atlantic Princess, a tuna boat, were kidnapped Thursday (local time), according to the report from Dryad Global, a provider of maritime security and intelligence services.

“The ship was reportedly approached by a speedboat with 8 pirates on board,” he said, adding that the incident allegedly took place 65 nautical miles from Tema, Ghana.

“The ship was reportedly shot before being boarded by 5 armed men. The ship was reportedly hijacked and sailed south at a distance of 100 nm before the pirates left the ship,” he added. .

The report says the kidnapped included the captain, who is Korean, as well as three Chinese crew members and a Russian.

It was not immediately clear whether the captain was South Korean. A call to the South Korean embassy in Ghana to confirm the incident went unanswered.

“This latest attack ends a significant disruption of activity in the Gulf of Guinea,” the report said. “So far in 2021, 56 staff have been kidnapped in 5 incidents on vessels operating in the Gulf of Guinea.” (Yonhap)