It was an eerie sight: an American oil supply
ship abandoned in one of the danger-filled
creeks that snake through the south of Nigeria,
stars and stripes fluttering from its mast, but
no sign of life on board.
A crew from NBC News tracked the C-Retriever
to the outskirts of the Port of Onne two weeks
after pirates boarded it and took hostage the
two U.S. citizens on board— the captain and
the chief engineer.
The incident has been cloaked in mystery, with
no information on the fate of the two men or
where they are being held and the Nigerian
Navy refusing to say what became of the
vessel after the October 23 attack in the Gulf of
Guinea.
Finding the ship was a complicated and
potentially perilous operation through waters
that have become increasingly popular with
pirates and sea-robbers who take cover in the
inlets while they stalk victims.
Piracy is surging in Nigeria, with Capt. Richard
Phillips declaring it "worse even than
Somalia," where he was taken hostage in 2009
and then rescued by Navy SEALS, a high-seas
drama chronicled in a current Tom Hanks
movie.
When we tried to hire two speed boats at a
jetty known as Borokri, the locals were
reluctant, deeming it too risky to travel with a
crew that included a white cameraman and an
Asian producer.
• Culled from NBC News
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