Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
08YAOUNDE1071
2008-10-31 12:06:00
UNCLASSIFIED//FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY
Embassy Yaounde
Cable title:  

PIRATES ATTACK OIL SUPPLY VESSEL IN CAMEROON,

Tags:  ASEC CM EPET PGOV PREL 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO0036
OO RUEHBZ RUEHDU RUEHGI RUEHJO RUEHMA RUEHMR RUEHPA RUEHRN RUEHTRO
DE RUEHYD #1071 3051206
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 311206Z OCT 08
FM AMEMBASSY YAOUNDE
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 9393
INFO RUEHZO/AFRICAN UNION COLLECTIVE IMMEDIATE 0244
RUEHMD/AMEMBASSY MADRID IMMEDIATE 0266
RUEHFR/AMEMBASSY PARIS IMMEDIATE 2102
RULSDMK/DEPT OF TRANSPORTATION WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHEBAAA/DEPT OF ENERGY WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RUEKJCS/DIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
RHMFISS/HQ USAFRICOM STUTTGART GE IMMEDIATE
RUEAIIA/CIA WASHDC IMMEDIATE
UNCLAS YAOUNDE 001071 

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC CM EPET PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: PIRATES ATTACK OIL SUPPLY VESSEL IN CAMEROON,
NON-AMCIT HOSTAGES TAKEN

UNCLAS YAOUNDE 001071

SENSITIVE
SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/C

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: ASEC CM EPET PGOV PREL
SUBJECT: PIRATES ATTACK OIL SUPPLY VESSEL IN CAMEROON,
NON-AMCIT HOSTAGES TAKEN


1. (SBU) At approximately midnight on October 31, unknown
assailants in three boats attacked a vessel contracted by the
French oil company Total off the Cameroon shore, between
Bakassi and Limbe, taking 10 or 11 crew members hostage (no
Amcits). According to Total's Cameroon Director, the
hostages included 7 French, 1 Tunisian, 1 Senegalese, and 1
or 2 Cameroonians. The attackers reportedly fired gun shots
but there were no injuries or fatalities. The vessel, the
Bourbon-owned "Bourbon Sagita," was engaged in tanker lifting
at the time and several crew members who were left on board
called for help from a nearby U.S.-owned Tidewater Marine
vessel. According to the Area Manager of Tidewater Marine,
there were about 20 attackers, while the Total Director
reports that the attackers spoke Pidgin.


2. (SBU) Comment: this is the first-ever incident of
hostage taking off of Cameroon's shore and comes only ten
weeks after Nigeria handed over the oil-rich Bakassi
Peninsula to Cameroon. While it was the first attack in
Cameroonian waters in about 90 days, it follows several
attacks on land over the past month, including a bold bank
robbery in Limbe. American interests are vulnerable to such
attacks. Tidewater Marine notes that it has 6-8 vessels at
sea off of Cameroon at any given time, many of them in the
oil-rich region around Bakassi. Although they are not all
U.S.-flagged, these vessels often have Amcit Captains. The
U.S. presence in offshore oil here also includes Noble
Energy, Pecten, Kosmos Energy, and COTCO (the Chad-Cameroon
pipeline and platform). Today's Halloween pirate attack has
already made the international media and raises new concerns
about Cameroon's maritime security. Post notified the DS
Watch and the Operations Center and will closely monitor this
latest incident.


GARVEY