Our friends and colleagues at Dryad Global assess that the floating and processing ship FPSO SENDJE BERGE has been attacked by unknown armed men off the coast of Nigeria at the Okwori Terminal. Further reports indicate that up to 11 personnel may have been kidnapped from the vessel.
This attack is distinctive regarding offshore vessel incidents within West Africa. Both the manner of attack and target are beyond the usual targeting and attack methodology of pirate action groups within Nigeria. Reports indicated that explosives were used during the attack. While unable to be verified, the use of such weapons (particularly grenades and RPG’s) has thus far not been seen in wider piracy reporting in West Africa.
Within the last few weeks a number of militant groupings within the Niger Delta have released statements condemning the actions of the Nigerian government with a group operating under the backing of the ‘Coalition of the Niger Delta Agitators’ has publicly withdrawn its ceasefire that it previously negotiated with the federal government.[1]
The kidnap of foreign vessel personnel by groups involved in militancy is not unusual for the Niger Delta, yet this incident is less common in the West Africa offshore domain. It is highly likely that the drill ship will be held for ransom however if confirmed as an act of militancy negotiations are likely to also focus on political concessions tied into both the release of personnel and cessation of activity.
This attack if confirmed, sets the total number of kidnapped personal in maritime incidents within West Africa to 74 in 2020. Specific kidnap reporting within 2020 is currently tracking at 51 percent higher than that of 2019 across the same period.
BW Offshore, owner of the vessel, released a statement confirming the attack had occured and that nine crew members were kidnapped. The company said: "On 2 July 2020, at approximately 4:20 am local time, BW Offshore's FPSO Sendje Berge was subject to an attack by pirates offshore Nigeria in which nine Nigerian nationals were kidnapped. The incident onboard the FPSO has ended and none of those remaining onboard have suffered physical injuries. BW Offshore is cooperating with local authorities, represented on site by the Nigerian Navy. BW Offshore expects to provide further updates as more information becomes available."[2]
What is of interest to Red Sky Alliance analysts, who conduct weekly oil and gas cyber and open source research, is that vessel attacks and possible kidnapping of vessel personnel may be focused on the oil and gas industry. Analysts will continue to monitor for specific oil and gas directed vessel attacks.
Red Sky Alliance conducted weekly vessel impersonation reports, Maritime Watch Lists (IOCs) and Top 5 Maritime Indicators and provide this information to Dryad Global for better cyber security conductivity within the international maritime transportation sector. Our analysts strongly recommend ongoing monitoring from both internal and external network perspectives for shippers and the shipping supply chain. Internal monitoring is common practice. However, external threats are often overlooked and can represent an early warning of impending attacks.
Red Sky Alliance can provide both internal monitoring in tandem with RedXray notifications on external threats to include, botnet activity, public data breaches, phishing, fraud, and general targeting. Red Sky Alliance is in New Boston, NH USA. We are a Cyber Threat Analysis and Intelligence Service organization. For questions, comments or assistance, please contact the lab directly at 1-844-492-7225, or feedback@wapacklabs.com
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[1] https://channel16.dryadglobal.com/possible-kidnapping-okwori-field-nigeria
[2] https://www.oedigital.com/news/479866-report-armed-group-attacks-fpso-kidnaps-crew-in-nigeria
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