“Pirates armed with automatic weapons in two small boats fired upon and boarded a drifting chemical tanker,” the International Maritime Bureau said on its website of the incident on Sunday.
“Crew retreated into the citadel and remained there for the entire night. The crew emerged from the citadel the next day and, upon inspection, found that ship cash was stolen.”
The coast of Benin, which neighbours Nigeria, Africa’s largest oil producer, has seen at least 20 piracy incidents this year compared with none last year. Piracy has long been a problem off Nigeria.
Benin and Nigeria launched joint sea patrols last week to tackle the surge in piracy that has raised alarm in the shipping industry, with attacks seeing crews held hostage and fuel stolen.
Unlike the explosion of piracy off the coast of Somalia on the eastern side of the continent in recent years, those involved in the recent West African attacks have so far not appeared to be after ransom payments.
Fuel or oil cargo has been stolen for sale on the region’s lucrative black market, while robberies have also occurred. Crew members have been beaten and the pirates tend to be heavily armed.