One sailor, an Azerbaijani citizen, was killed during the raid, while the kidnappers were from Turkey, according to the respective governments and a crew list seen by Reuters.
Accounts of crew members, family members and security sources described a sophisticated and well-orchestrated attack in which armed pirates boarded the ship and broke through the protective citadel, possibly with explosives.
Three sailors remain on the Mozart ship, which received assistance in Gabonese waters off Central Africa by Sunday evening.
“The ship is in our waters and our sailors are helping a few nautical miles from Port Gentil,” Gabon spokeswoman Jessye Ella Ekogha said without giving further details.
The Liberian-flagged vessel was on its way from Lagos to Cape Town when it was attacked in the Gulf of Guinea, 160 kilometers from Sao Tome Island, on Saturday, maritime reports showed.
The ship’s fourth captain, Furkan Yaren, ‘blindly’ crossed into Gabon with damage to the ship’s control and only the radar works, according to the state-run news agency Anadolu. The pirates beat crew members and left him with an injured leg while another on board the ship had shrapnel wounds, Yaren said.
Turkish media quoted the boat company, Boden, based in Istanbul, as saying that the owners and drivers of the vessel had been abducted with guns. Grounds were not immediately available.
Ambrey, a security company, said four armed men boarded the Mozart and entered the citadel – where the crew is advised to hide in any attack – from a deck on top of the cockpit.
Edward Yeibo, a commander of the Nigerian navy, said he was not aware of the attack and was seeking more information. The naval commando office in Lagos and a spokesperson for the Maritime Regulator of Nigeria were not immediately available.
Game changer
Pirates in the Gulf, which borders more than a dozen countries, abducted 130 sailors in 22 incidents last year, and is responsible for all but five of the world seized, according to a report by the International Maritime Bureau.
The attack on Mozart could increase international pressure on Nigeria to do more to protect the deliverers, who have called for tougher action in recent weeks.
“The fact that someone died, the number of people taken and the apparent use of explosives to violate the ship’s citadel means that it is a potential game changer,” said David Johnson, CEO of the EOS risk group in the United Kingdom, said.
“It’s clearly very sophisticated and if pirates have decided to use ammunition, it’s a big step,” he said. The kidnappers will no doubt be taken back to Nigeria’s Delta, and Turkey has little hope of stopping it, he added.
Turkey’s foreign ministry said the pirates had made no contact with Ankara.
Seyit Kaya, brother of the abducted 42-year-old captain Mustafa Kaya, a father of two, said in an interview that he was waiting for details from the ship’s owner about any possible ransom.
“Since there are a lot of attacks in the area, they take warnings against pirates,” said Kaya, who is also a sailor.