Boskalis vessel Blue Marlin freed after hijack attempt offshore West Africa

The Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. (Boskalis) reported that its heavy transport vessel Blue Marlin was hijacked on Sunday approximately 80 nautical miles offshore Equatorial Guinea. Through the professional response of the crew and the coordinated support from the navy of Equatorial Guinea and Spain, the violent hijacking has been ended and the crew was safely freed.

Peter Berdowski, CEO Boskalis
"I want to express my compliments to our crew for their extremely professional and adequate actions in this life threatening situation. I am extremely grateful  and in particular thankful to the navy of Equatorial Guinea for their quick and decisive response, as well as to the Spanish navy for their assistance via MDAT-GoG. Because of their actions, this hijacking could be ended quickly and our colleagues were brought into safety."

After unloading a cargo in the waters of Equatorial Guinea, the Blue Marlin departed last Sunday with destination Malta. Sunday afternoon, the ship was unlawfully boarded from a zodiac by several armed pirates. By acting quickly and professionally, all twenty crew members were able to secure themselves in the citadel. A citadel is a highly secured space in the vessel equipped with various means of communication and emergency rations.

Upon alerting the local authorities of Equatorial Guinea and the NATO mission MDAT-GoG (Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade - Gulf of Guinea), two helicopters were immediately mobilized from Equatorial Guinea, followed by a navy vessel of Equatorial Guinea and one from the Spanish navy, part of the MDAT-GoG mission.

Monday morning at daylight, the Blue Marlin was boarded and fully searched by the navy of Equatorial Guinea and Spain. No pirates were found and the crew was freed from the citadel. All the crew members are in good health. The pirates shot several times during their time aboard the Blue Marlin and caused substantial material damage on the bridge, preventing the ship from being sailable. The vessel is currently approximately 40 miles offshore Equatorial Guinea, in international waters.

After the freeing of the Blue Marlin, the Spanish naval vessel left Monday afternoon, followed in the evening by the naval vessel of Equatorial Guinea. The latter vessel left five armed guards on board to protect the Blue Marlin. Boskalis has now mobilized a oceangoing tug to take the Blue Marlin to a safe location.

Royal Boskalis Westminster N.V. is a leading global services provider operating in the dredging, maritime infrastructure and maritime services sectors in the maritime, coastal and delta regions. The services include the construction and maintenance of ports and waterways, land reclamation, coastal defense and riverbank protection. Boskalis offers a wide variety of marine services and contracting for the oil and gas sector and offshore wind industry as well as salvage solutions (SMIT Salvage). Furthermore, Boskalis has a number of strategic partnerships in harbour towage and terminal services (KOTUG SMIT Towage, Keppel Smit Towage, Saam Smit Towage and Smit Lamnalco). With a versatile fleet of 1,000 units Boskalis operates in around 75 countries across six continents. Boskalis has over 8,200 employees, excluding its share in partnerships.