Pirates hijack tanker off Nigerian coast, kills commander

One person has been killed and three others taken hostage as pirates hijack a crude oil tanker off the Nigerian coast. The Greek coastguard said on Wednesday that the Malta-flagged Kalamos’s Greek deputy commander was killed by the pirates. Dozens of heavily armed pirates boarded the 15-year-old tanker that was at anchor in Nigeria’s Gulf of Guinea on Tuesday.

The tanker was waiting for a fresh oil cargo from the Qua Iboe terminal in southeastern Nigeria. A coastguard spokeswoman told AFP that two of the three hostages were Greek nationals, adding that out of the 23 crewmembers 10 were from Greece.

Experts say the Gulf of Guinea has become the new epicenter for piracy in Africa.The International Maritime Bureau has said that between January and September 2014, 33 incidents of piracy and armed raids were recorded in the region.