Pirates attacked a Turkish cargo ship off the West African coast, kidnapping 15 sailors and killing one, and Turkey’s military was planning a rescue operation on Sunday, Al Jazeera reports.
Turkey’s Maritime Directorate said the crew initially locked themselves in a safe area but the pirates forced entry after six hours. During the struggle, one crew member on board the M/V Mozart died.
Turkish media identified the victim as engineer Farman Ismayilov of Azerbaijan, the only non-Turkish crew member.
After taking most of the crew on Saturday, the pirates left the ship in the Gulf of Guinea with three sailors on board, state-run Anadolu news agency said. The vessel is currently heading to Gabon’s Port-Gentil.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan spoke twice to the senior officer remaining on the ship, Furkan Yaren, the Turkish presidency said in a tweet. It added Erdogan issued orders for the recovery of the kidnapped crew.
Yaren was cited as saying the pirates beat crew members, and left him with an injured leg while another still aboard the ship had shrapnel wounds.
“The owners and operators of the M/V Mozart, which was hijacked at gunpoint in the Gulf of Guinea, have regretfully confirmed that one of its crew has been killed and others abducted,” Istanbul-based Boden Maritime said in a statement.
