Gunmen hijack oil supply vessel in Nigeria

Gunmen in Nigeria's Niger Delta have hijacked a supply ship working for US oil major Chevron and are demanding a ransom for the release of the vessel and its crew, a military spokesperson said today.

Lt. Col. Sagir Musa said the 11-person crew held included two foreign nationals, one Portuguese and one Ukrainian. The armed men, who seized the Lourdes Tide late yesterday as it was carrying supplies from Onne in Rivers state to Escravos in neighbouring Delta state, had asked for a 30 million naira ($254 539) ransom, Musa added. The identity of the gunmen was not immediately known.

The hijack is the latest in a series of militant attacks and sabotage in recent weeks in the Niger delta. Oil companies and trading sources say this has shut in about 559 000 barrels per day of Nigerian production, about 19% of the installed output capacity of around 3 million bpd in the West African state, the world's eighth largest oil exporter. - Reuters