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India is in touch with the authorities in Nigeria and Benin for any information on the whereabouts of the oil tanker which went missing on 1 February in the Gulf of Guinea.
The ship, MT Marine Express, has 22 Indians on board. The External Affairs Ministry has said that the Indian mission in Abuja is in constant touch with concerned officials and monitoring the situation.
“A merchant vessel Marine Express (oil tanker), 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,” MEA Spokesperson Raveesh Kumar said in a tweet.
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“Our Mission in Abuja (Nigeria) is in touch with the authorities in Benin and Nigeria for their help in locating the ship and is constantly monitoring the situation. A 24-hour helpline number set up by the Embassy for information on those missing is +234-9070343860,” Kumar tweeted on Saturday, 3 February.
The last known location of the ship was Cotonou in the Benin.
According to Marine Traffic records, the 180-m long ship was anchored at the position on 31 January. The next day, 1 February, satellite discovered the ship was missing from the anchorage point in the Gulf of Guinea.
The tanker is carrying 13,500 tonnes of oil worth approximately $8.1 million. The Panama-registered vessel is owned by Anglo-Eastern Ship Management.
“We regret that contact has been lost with the AE-managed MT Marine Express while at Cotonou, Benin. 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. Updates TBA,” Anglo-Eastern wrote in a tweet.
Fears are that the MT Marine Express has been hijacked for ransom or attacked for the oil. This is the second disappearance of a ship in the same region in the last two months.
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