W.Africa pirates free gasoline tanker, steal cargo

LONDON- West African pirates have freed a gasoline tanker they hijacked last week, after stealing some of the cargo, the shipowner said on Friday, in a fresh example of a growing trend in the region to hold vessels briefly to offload valuable oil products.

Nick Fell, a spokesman for BW Maritime, said the company thought the tanker BW Rhine had been taken for the gasoline it was carrying, which was worth millions of dollars.

“We believe that was the purpose.

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