Armed men have seized a Russian tanker and sailed it to Guinea, Russia's Transport Ministry said in a statement Tuesday, according to Reuters. The ministry said it was alerted to the seizure Monday when the Luchegorsk, owned by Primorye Sea Shipping Co. (PRISCO), was 55 miles from Freetown and 40 miles from Conakry in Guinea. "Armed men dressed in black came on board and made claims about the ship entering territorial waters," the statement said. "After some discussion, the crew was deprived of any means of communications and the ship began to head toward the port of Conakry." The 3,000-tonne ship, which had been providing bunker fuel to other vessels, was now in Conakry, it said. The ministry said it had asked Russia's Foreign Ministry to request information from authorities in Guinea and to demand the ship's release. Earlier Russian news agencies quoted a ministry spokesman as saying the ship was in Sierra Leone. PRISCO specialises in shipping oil and refined oil products in the far east and the Asia-Pacific region.
