According to a report on Reuters, pirates in the Gulf of Guinea seized two Panamanian-registered ships early on Sunday (July 31), but released them after being intercepted by a naval boat from Benin.
The naval boat's captain reportedly told Reuters that a dozen heavily armed pirates had boarded the two ships, which were carrying diesel just off the coast of the west African state of Benin, between 1.30 a.m. and 2 a.m.
Last Sunday, pirates attacked an Italian tanker carrying a cargo of diesel fuel off Benin, making off with some goods but leaving the crew unharmed. A few days before that, pirates released a Greek-owned, Liberia-flagged tanker they had seized, also off the coast of Benin.