An oil tanker
BBC
A French-owned ship seized by pirates off Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday has been freed, the vessel’s owner has said.
SEA Tankers said two of the 17 sailors on board the M/T Gascogne were receiving medical attention after being injured during the hijacking.
The diesel tanker was seized off Cote d’Ivoire’s port city of Abidjan with a crew that included Africans and Asians, reports the BBC.
Pirate attacks off the West African coast have increased in recent years, either for ransom or fuel theft.
Last month, armed hijackers freed a tanker seized off Cote d’Ivoire after escaping with fuel worth $5m (£3m), said its Nigerian-based owner, Brila Energy.
SEA Tankers did not say how the M/T Gascogne was freed or what the motive of the hijackers was.
On Sunday, Ivorian officials said the crew included seven sailors from Togo, four from Benin, two from Cote d’Ivoire, two from Senegal and one each from China and South Korea, AP news agency reports.