Nigerian Navy .
By Ronke Phillips and Sohel Uddin
It was an eerie sight: an American oil supply ship abandoned in one of
the danger-filled creeks that snake through the south of Nigeria, stars
and stripes fluttering from its mast, but no sign of life on board.
A crew from Drive Hot News tracked the C-Retriever to the outskirts of the
Port of Onne two weeks after pirates boarded it and took hostage the two
U.S. citizens on board— the captain and the chief engineer.
The incident has been cloaked in mystery, with no information on the
fate of the two men or where they are being held and the Nigerian Navy
refusing to say what became of the vessel after the October 23 attack in
the Gulf of Guinea.
Finding the ship was a complicated and potentially perilous operation
through waters that have become increasingly popular with pirates and
sea-robbers who take cover in the inlets while they stalk victims.
Piracy is surging in Nigeria, with Capt. Richard Phillips declaring it
"worse even than Somalia," where he was taken hostage in 2009 and then
rescued by Navy SEALS, a high-seas drama chronicled in a current Tom
Hanks movie.
When we tried to hire two speed boats at a jetty known as Borokri, the
locals were reluctant, deeming it too risky to travel with a crew that
included a white cameraman and an Asian producer.
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