Eighteen Indians on board a Hong Kong-flagged vessel, the VLCC, Nave Constellation, were kidnapped by pirates near the Nigerian coast, said a global agency tracking maritime developments in the region.
Sources said that following the reports of kidnapping of the Indians, the Indian mission in Nigeria has approached the African nation's authorities for help to ascertain the details and rescue the abducted Indians.
According to ARX Maritime, which tracks movements of ships, the ship was taken over by pirates on Monday and 19 people on board the vessel were kidnapped out of which 18 were Indians.
ARX Maritime provides commercial risk management for vessels trading in high-risk areas.
The Hong Kong-flagged VLCC, Nave Constellation was attacked by pirates during the evening hours of December 3 while transiting through Nigeria. Seatrade Maritime-News cited reports that the kidnapping took place 100 nautical miles south of Bonny Island.