ALL crew members of a tanker are safe and accounted for after being forced to retreat to their vessel’s citadel following a suspected boarding incident.

Maritime security firm Ambrey said the incident occurred 58 nm south of Lomé, Togo, at 1825 hrs on August 28.

Lloyd’s List understands the vessel in question is the Malta-flagged, 2010-built, 7,358 dwt Endo Ponente (IMO: 9426506). This has subsequently been confirmed by owner Endo Tankers.

Endo Ponete was headed towards the Democratic Republic of Congo from Togo when it was approached by what the owner called “a suspicious skiff”. Ambrey said another report characterised the incident as pirate boarding, but it could not verify this. No weapons or boarding equipment were reported in the incident; the tanker had a freeboard of just two metres.

The master alerted shore-based staff and all crew retreated to the citadel, Endo Tankers confirmed, where they remained until Togolese naval vessels arrived. A search was carried out and nothing abnormal was found. All crew are safe and accounted for. 

Despite a slowdown in incidents in recent years, the Gulf of Guinea has long overtaken Somalia as the region’s piracy hotspot and is only surpassed by the Singapore Strait for volume of incidents in the first half of 2025, according to the International Maritime Bureau.

That being said, the Gulf of Guinea was responsible for 87% of all crew kidnappings globally in the first half of 2025 according to the IMB.

Another tanker, Bitu River (IMO: 9918133), was boarded in the region in March of this year. Ten members of the vessel’s crew were abducted and were not released for nearly a month.

Ambrey advises all vessels with a freeboard of less than 10 metres and without armed security to immediately re-route closer to Ghanian and Togolese territorial seas, enhance watchkeeping and check Best Management Practices.