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SV International Transport Federation General Manager, Mr. Ake Selander, talking to reporter. (3 shots)
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SELANDER: "Well we were initially informed by one of our British affiliated who had a report from Lagos as yet unconfirmed that the master had been thrown overboard and that there were several other injuries. We later checked this with out Danish affiliates and it has now been established that the master was shot and thrown overboard and has not been found, and all the other crew members, 14 in all, have all been injured, many of them seriously. I believe one Indonesian crew member lost both eyes."



REPORTER: "Have there been any other incidents of this sort before?"



SELANDER: "Yes there have been, although not quite as serious as this one. There have been several regarding Danish vessels, British vessels, and I believe Greek vessels.



REPORTER: "What sort of action is the Federation planning to take against such acts of piracy?"



SELANDER: "Well we have cabled the Nigerian Government and we have asked the Nigerian Government to strengthen the security measures. We have offered the government maximum co-operation but we have also told them that our members cannot tolerate the situation any more and we are afraid that if there isn't an improvement pretty soon then the seafarers will refuse to sail to Nigeria."



One leading Danish shipping company, Mercandia, halted shipping services to Lagos last year. Mercandia owner Per Henriksen said "We had trouble with African canoes that came up alongside our ships waiting in the roads. But we installed high pressure hose pipes to wash the would-be raiders off. Another problem came when we found that captains reporting raids to the Nigerian authorities were themselves charged with aiding and abetting smuggling." Mr. Henriksen said the Lagos traffic was lucrative and many shipping lines were evidently prepared to task risks."




Initials VS 23.50


SHARON WILSON

Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved

Background: The International Transport Federation, which represents merchant shipping officers and crewmen, is to take action against piracy. This follows an incident near the Nigerian Port of Lagos on Tuesday (22 November) in which African pirates boarded the Danish ship Lindinger Ivory. All crew members were wounded in the pre-dawn attack, which was one of a number reported to have occurred recently off the West African coast. The Federation's general manager, Mr. Ake Selander, said this development was a cause for concern. Speaking in London on Wednesday (23 November) to Visnews' Sharon Wilson he outlined details of the latest incident.