The Naval Headquarters Abuja yesterday said its personnel on patrol have rescued an oil vessel, MT ABU DHABI seized by pirates on Tuesday.
All the 23 crew on board were safe and the pirates have not been captured.
"MT ABU DHABI has been rescued by the Nigerian Naval Ship, ZARIA. On sight of a naval ship and naval helicopter, the hijackers escaped. There was no exchange of fire. All the crew members are safe. The rescued ship will anchor within the Lagos harbour under naval protection until investigation is completed," navy's Director of Information Commodore Kabir Aliyu said in the statement.
Reuters had reported the seizure of the vessel about 14 nautical miles off the coast of Lagos port. But the Nigerian Navy said "the Singapore-owned ship which was laden with oil was seized reportedly near the port of Lagos, but security forces insisted the attack happened farther offshore. The navy launched a rescue operation after it was alerted of the incident."
The Navy said a tracking device placed the tanker 31.4 nautical miles (60 kilometers, 35 miles) away from the Lagos port at roughly 1100GMT before it was salvaged.
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