Turkish cargo ship hijacked by pirates off Nigeria

By Fatma Esma Arslan

DAKAR, Senegal (AA) - A Turkish cargo ship with 19 crew members was hijacked by pirates Saturday in the Gulf of Guinea, according to a statement.

Fifteen crew members moving from Lagos, Nigeria to Cape Town, South Africa were kidnapped, one was killed, while three remained with the pirates, David Johnson, the head of the UK-based EOS Risk Group said in the statement.

The ship, Mozart, of Istanbul-based Boden company, was attacked in the Gulf of Guinea, 160 kilometers (100 miles) off Sao Tome, he added.

A tape recording shared on Twitter and believed to be belonging to the captain of the ship says: "I don't know where I'm going. The pirates dismantled all cables, nothing is working. Only the navigator works. They gave me a route, I'm moving accordingly."