At least 12 crew members have been abducted following an attack by pirates on a European gas tanker flying the flag of Portugal. The incident occurred off Equatorial Guinea on the western coast of Africa early Monday. The CGas Saturn, a vessel owned by Denmark’s Christiania Gas and built in 2003, was en route to Malabo, the capital of Equatorial Guinea, when the assault happened approximately 50 nautical miles west of Mbini, according to security firm Vanguard.
Reports from maritime source Splash 247 indicate that four crew members remained on the ship, with one sustaining injuries from what is believed to be a stray bullet. According to data from Statista, there were 116 pirate attacks worldwide last year, showing a decreasing trend compared to the peak of 445 incidents in 2010.
The Gulf of Guinea is a noted piracy hotspot, particularly around Nigeria’s Niger Delta. The International Maritime Bureau reported 15 incidents in the region in the first nine months of 2025. Ten of these took place within territorial waters and were classified as armed robberies, while the remaining five were labeled as acts of piracy.