A group of pirates in the Gulf of Guinea, off the west coast of Africa, invaded and occupied a Chinese-flagged oil tanker on Tuesday.

The incident comes about two weeks after an attack on a Danish tanker, with 16 people on board, until French naval forces located the ship and escorted it to Togo.

According to the Associated Press, a risk management company operating in the region said that the ship in question was taken about 300 nautical miles (about 555 kilometers) off the coast of Yamoussoukro, the capital of Ivory Coast.

However, Martin Kelly, of the EOS Risk Group, was unable to confirm how many people were on board and how the pirates got on board the vessel.

"While the details remain unclear, there are two plausible explanations. The first is that this is a kidnap and ransom incident. The second could be the theft of merchandise," Kelly explained to the news agency.

In June 2022, the UN Security Council adopted a unanimous resolution condemning piracy operations in the Gulf of Guinea, which, along with the Somali coast, is one of the most dangerous regions in the world for the passage of cargo ships, given the high prevalence of pirate activity.