The Russian government is working to free the Russian national taken hostage from a Malta-flagged chemical tanker on 11 March.

The crew member was one of 15 kidnapped from the 19,800-dwt Davide B (built 2016) when it was boarded by armed pirates as it transited the Gulf of Guinea south of Benin, according to a report from Russian state-owned English language news outlet Sputnik.