Hijacked Singaporean ship released near Nigeria

A hijacked Singaporean oil tanker carrying 21 sailors was released on Sunday a week after being seized by pirates in waters off Ghana in West Africa, Seoul's foreign ministry said. The 3,200-tonnes tanker, carrying a South Korean captain and chief engineer, was hijacked on July 26 off the southern coast of Ghana. The vessel, which had loaded in the Pacific island nation of Kiribati, was also carrying 12 Chinese, one Singaporean and six Burmese, it said. ‘All sailors are unhurt and it appears that some of their fuel has been stolen,’ it said, adding the ship was released in waters off Nigeria. The International Maritime Bureau said West African piracy made up 19 per cent of attacks worldwide last year, with Nigerian pirates accounting for 31 of the region's 51 attacks -- the most since 2008, according to AFP.