Pirates have kidnapped seven crew members of a Vietnamese-flagged cargo ship off the coast of the Philippines, a coast guard official said on Monday.
The ship, which was transporting cement from Indonesia to the Philippines, was reportedly attacked around 6 p.m. on Sunday where Abu Sayyaf, an Islamic State-linked militant group, has a heavy presence.
“We have received information about the case from Vietnam National Shipping Lines this morning,” Major General Nguyen Quang Dam, Commander of the Vietnam Coast Guard, said.
The pirates reportedly seized the ship, with 17 crew members on board, and then abandoned it, kidnapping seven of the crew in the process.
No crew was reported to be injured, although the fate of the kidnapped crew is currently unknown.
“There are seven crew members who were kidnapped, and we are working with relevant agencies, including on the Philippines side, to deal with the case,” Dam said.
The attack marks the second piracy incident involving a Vietnamese vessel near Philippine waters in recent months.
Six crew members of a Vietnamese-flagged cargo vessel were abducted.
Another crew member was injured in November 2016, when 10 gunmen attacked a ship as it sailed near the province of Basilan, 900 km south of Manila.
Also in November, members of Abu Sayyaf abducted a 70-year-old German man and killed his 59-year-old wife as the couple sailed on a private yacht between Malaysia and the southern Philippines. (dpa/NAN)
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