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The Lebanese were surprised by news like this, which does not exceed ten lines, and treats an unfortunate incident with such indifference. What exactly happened and when? However, the most important question the minister may have answered is, “What are you doing?”
The story began six days ago, on November 26, when a general freighter named “Milan One” was hijacked near Pennington Station in Nigeria while moving from Escrafos to Douala in Cameroon, resulting in the hijacking of 10 its crew, two Egyptian citizens and 3 Lebanese and 4 citizens with Indian citizenship, as well as another person with Cameroonian citizenship. According to navigation reports, the ship was attacked in Nigerian waters, the Gulf of Guinea, about 10 nanometers off the coast of Bayelsa state, around 2:30 am Beirut time. So the freighter was heading from Coco Nigeria to Douala Cameroon, and it is supposed to arrive on Friday or Saturday November 27 or 28, but the ship slowed down and then veered off to another course and lost signal for about two hours ( between 2:30 and 4:30 hours). That happened during the pirate boom. When the signal reappeared, the ship had completely changed course, and the hijacking and arrest was confirmed.
In information about the ship, “Nidaa Al Watan” learned that it is a “general cargo” ship that was built in 1982 by “Harlingen Shipswarf Harlingen” and currently sails under the flag of “St. Kitts and Nevis”. Its name changed several times with the change of identity of those who bought it. It was previously known as “Concordia” in 1988, “Concordia” in 1994, “Vizcaya” in 1996, “Maria Smit” in 1999, and as “Nazli” in 2012 and “Mayo” in 2013. Until the Lebanese sailor “Ahmed Al-Kout “bought it six years ago and changed its name to today the ship” Milano One “and sailed on it several voyages before chartering it with the services of the crew this time to a Cameroonian named” Tavo Lawrence “who is kidnapped .
“Let the Lebanese state buy my ship and pay the ransom for the three Lebanese sailors, and I don’t want a penny, and I don’t even want my ship recovered.” With these words, the owner of the ship, Ahmed Al-Kout, began his conversation with Nidaa al-Watan, explaining that he had received several calls from the hijackers through the “Soraya” phone. It can be traced. They demanded that he pay a ransom for all, which started with large sums and amounted to one and a half million dollars to free the three Lebanese, that is, an estimated half a million dollars per person. He continues: “I am in direct contact with the Nigerian Navy and with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, but I do not know if the Lebanese state will be able to secure the amount of the required ransom so that we at least recover the crew. On board the ship is not mine, but I am currently mediating the negotiation although the only thing that matters to me today is the safety of the kidnapped crew.
Al-Kut added: “It is not the first time that ships have been hijacked in this region, as the total number of crew members hijacked from ships operating in the Gulf of Guinea in 2020 until today reached 128 in 24 incidents. Eventually, they increased incidents of detaining and boarding ships outside the economic zone. The Nigeria Finding (EEZ), according to the UK-based maritime security company DREAD GLOBAL, the piracy operation is likely attributed to the armed group known as the Niger Delta Reform Group, the Avengers. Al-Kut refused to share the names of the abductees because, according to him, “he does not want to cause any media scandal that will shed light on the family or reverse their tragedy.” , confirmed that “he was satisfied with the condition of all the kidnapped crew and that they are doing well so far,” highlighting that he cannot. The families of the kidnapped should ensure the ransom, especially in hard currency, and in the economic situation that the country is currently going through.
