Moscow, Aug 30 (IANS/RIA Novosti) Pirates have seized a Greek-owned oil tanker with 24 Russian crew members on board off the coast of Togo in west Africa.
English-language TV channel Russia Today said: "Pirates have kidnapped 24 Russian sailors in an attack on a Greek-owned oil tanker off the coast of Togo. The crew alerted the Togolese Navy, but the tanker managed to escape amid an exchange of fire with a patrol boat."
Agence Ecofin, an African economic and financial news agency, said the attack occurred only 30 km from Togolese capital Lome.
According to an International Maritime Bureau report, a total of 32 pirate attacks on ships have been registered this year off Benin, Nigeria and Togo, against 25 in the same period in 2011.
--IANS/RIA Novosti
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