Confirmed: 6 Crew Members Kidnapped by Pirates Off Benin Coast Russian Citizens

Earlier, media reported that a container ship had been attacked off the coast of Cotonou, Benin, while it was sailing in the Gulf of Guinea. Six crew members had been reported missing after the assault. The ship was subsequently secured and sailed to a port off Nigeria's coast, according to media reports.

"The attackers took 6 people, including the captain of the vessel, hostage and fled. All those captured are citizens of Russia", the Russian Embassy in Benin confirmed on Facebook.

READ MORE: Pirates Attack MSC Mandy Vessel Off Benin's Coast, 6 Kidnapped — Maritime Agency

The boxship MSC Mandy was assaulted by pirates on the 2nd of January and sailed to Nigerian territorial waters following the incident.

The Russian Embassy in Nigeria, for its part, has said it was cooperating with local authorities to rescue the abducted crew members. The rest of the vessel's crew are not in danger, the diplomats added.

Russian investigators have in the meanwhile addressed the issue as well.

"The chairman of the Russian Investigative Committee, Alexander Bastrykin, has tasked the Central Investigation Department of the Russian Investigative Committee with organising an investigative check of media information about the kidnapping of crew members from the vessel MSC Mandy sailing under the Panamanian flag", Svetlana Petrenko, the official spokesperson for the committee, said.