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Two United States citizens who were kidnapped from the Edison Chouest Offshore vessel C-Retriever last week off Nigeria’s coast remained in their captors’ custody as of Monday.
The U.S. State Department confirmed last week that the expatriates were kidnapped from the U.S.-flagged vessel in the Gulf of Guinea, off Africa’s west coast. Eleven crewmembers had been on board prior to the attack, according to media reports.
Information identifying the citizens is being withheld for privacy reasons, so although the vessel is based in south Lafourche, it is unknown if the victims are locals. CNN, citing an anonymous U.S. official, reported that the ship’s captain and chief engineer were taken.
Marie Harf, one of two State Department spokespersons to comment on the incident, said the U.S. government is treating the situation as kidnap for ransom and weighing a possible response, regarding both this specific incident and the long-term stability of the region.
“At this point, we’re still looking into it,” Harf said. “Obviously, our concern is their safe return. … We’ve worked, and will continue to work, with states on the Gulf of Guinea to help them respond effectively to maritime crime in these waters.”
The Nigerian Navy has publicly stated on multiple occasions its intention to rescue the Edison Chouest hostages.
Vessel tracking data placed the 240-foot C-Retriever off the southern coast of Nigeria, in proximity to Port Harcourt but docking most recently at Port of Onne. The platform supply vessel is based in Galliano.
A voicemail left with an Edison Chouest spokesman went unreturned. As of Monday, the company had not issued a public statement regarding the alleged kidnapping.
“We have individuals both inside and outside our company who are experts in dealing with these situations,” Lonnie Thibodaux, the spokesman, told the Associated Press after three Edison Chouest employees were kidnapped in November, 2011. Those victims were eventually released.
Through Oct. 22, 206 reported piracy acts had occurred worldwide, according to the International Maritime Bureau Piracy Reporting Centre. Thirty of those incidents were related to Nigeria. Very few attacks occur on U.S.-flagged vessels or take U.S. citizens as hostages.
The center, a subsidiary of the International Chamber of Commerce, lists Nigeria as an area prone to piracy.
“A number of crew members were injured and kidnapped in past attacks,” in Nigeria, the report reads. “Generally all waters in Nigeria remain risky.”
Although dangerous, the Niger Delta is among the most oil-rich locations in the world. In 2012, it outpaced all OPEC nations but Saudi Arabia and Emirates with $93 billion in net oil export revenue, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.
Energy extraction comprises most of Nigeria’s gross domestic product, but the west African nation’s river delta is plagued with conflict driven by vast economic disparity.
Worldwide, pirates have collected millions of dollars in ransom. Somali pirates off east Africa received $413 million in ransom payments between April 2005 and December 2012, according to Reuters.
Edison Chouest Offshore has not made a public statement regarding two American citizens being taken from its platform supply vessel the C-Retriever in Nigerian waters last week. The U.S. State Department confirmed media reports at a Thursday briefing.
