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Gunmen Attack Exxon Subsidiary Vessel, Crew Member Killed


This Day (Lagos)


NEWS
5 December 2007
Posted to the web 5 December 2007

By Fidelia Okwuonu
Lagos

Gunmen yesterday attacked a vessel belonging to Rangk Nigeria Limited, a
contractor to Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited (EEPNL), and
subsidiary of Exxon Mobil Corporation, killing a Nigerian crew member in the
vessel.

The attack happened in the early hours of yesterday in the Niger Delta while
the crew were enroute Onne Port in Rivers State



Although details of the attack were sketchy as is often the case with Niger
Delta attacks, sources however confirmed that about eight unidentified gun men
in a speed boat boarded the Seamark vessel on the Bonny river, in Rivers state.

"They ransacked the vessel, taking away a laptop and some radios. The vessel
then continued on its way and is now secure at Onne,"

The Manager, External Affairs, Rangk Nigeria Limited , Gloria Essien Danner,
confirmed the incident , saying 'MV Seamark, a contractor supply vessel owned
by Rangk Nigeria Limited, which supports our offshore operations, was boarded
and robbed at the early hours of yesterday by some armed persons, while enroute
Onne Port in Rivers State.'

Attacks by politically motivated rebels in the Delta, who last year shut down a
fifth of Nigerian oil production, have subsided since a new president took
office in May but armed robbers and pirates still stage sporadic raids in the
creeks.

President Umaru Yar'Adua's envoys have tried to negotiate a ceasefire with
rebel groups demanding local control over oil revenues for the impoverished
communities of the Niger Delta. While talks have been going on, their attacks
on oil facilities and kidnapping of oil workers have subsided.

But the line between militancy and crime is blurred in the Delta, which remains
prone to violent attacks such as armed robberies or kidnapping for ransom.

Nigeria, an OPEC member, is the world's eighth-biggest exporter of crude oil
and disruptions to supply due to violence in the Niger Delta are one of the
causes of oil's surge towards $100 a barrel.


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