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Five Koreans and one Ghanaian were kidnapped by militants believed to be pirates off the coast of Benin, West Africa. The safety of the crew has not been confirmed.

This is reporter Kim Hye-young.

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The tuna fishing vessel of the Ghanaian shipping, Panofi Frontier, was attacked by armed forces at 111km off the coast of Benin Cotonou, West Africa around 0:40 am today.

Armed forces kidnapped only five Koreans and one Ghanaian out of 30 sailors and fled to the Nigerian waters.

The kidnapped Koreans, including the 61-year-old captain, are executive crew members, including the head of the agency and the deck.

Busan's Fio Marines, which sent out Korean sailors, announced that they had lost contact with the crew after the message that two speedboats, allegedly pirates, had fled.

[Song Byeong-gwan / Managing Director Piomarin: I got a call from a nearby boat (that was captured). We are still in contact with the Korean Embassy, ​​and we are still grasping the situation.]

Offshore Benin is adjacent to Guinea Bay, a major fishing and transportation hub for Nigerian crude oil and gas.

As many as 42% of pirate attacks and 90% of seafarer abductions occurred in this area last year, pirate-related incidents and accidents continue to occur.

The situation of coastal countries is also unstable, and the trend of low oil prices has reduced the operation of large carriers, and the target of pirates is expanding to general fishing boats.

On the 3rd of last month, in the vicinity of Gabon, a Korean captain was kidnapped by pirates and released in 37 days.

The government has announced that it will work closely with domestic and foreign related organizations to promptly release the crew.

(Video coverage: Sunghwa Hwa, Video editing: Jongwoo Kim, CG: Seunghyun Seo, Gongsoo Su, Junghyunjeong)