A FRENCH-OWNED tanker with a crew of 17 that went missing off Ivory Coast is believed to have been hijacked by Nigerian pirates, the International Maritime Bureau said.
Attacks on ships are on the rise in West Africa's Gulf of Guinea.
If confirmed, the weekend hijacking would be the second such seizure off Ivory Coast in under three weeks.
Noel Choong, head of the IMB's piracy reports division, said: "The situation in the Gulf of Guinea is bad. There have been three attacks in five days." He said the other incidents were off the coast of Nigeria.
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