Pirates kidnap French seamen

PIRATES boarded an oil industry supply vessel off Nigeria yesterday and seized three French seamen in the second hostage drama for French energy workers in West Africa in less than a week.

The men’s employer, French maritime services firm Bourbon, and the French foreign ministry said they had contacted the kidnapped workers’ families and were working with Nigerian authorities to secure their release.

Yesterday’s drama came six days after five French nationals working in neighbouring Niger’s uranium fields were kidnapped by al-Qaida militants, in an attack that has stretched French assets in the region.