Feb 4, 2018, 00:48 IST

A Panama-flag merchant ship with 22 Indian crew members has gone missing from Benin coast in West Africa. The owners of the MT Marine Express, which is loaded with gas oil, lost contact with the vessel on Thursday.

They have sought the help of the directorate general of shipping in Mumbai to get in touch with their counterparts in Nigeria and Benin to carry out search operations.

Given that pirates had hijacked a British vessel on January 9 and held the crew hostage, another hijack is not ruled out.

Nigerian authorities have alerted all boats to be on the lookout for the ship and to report any sighting to the International Maritime Bureau‘s Anti-Piracy Reporting Centre immediately in London.

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