The public prosecutor in Basel, Switzerland, has opened a probe into the kidnapping of 12 seafarers from a Massoel Shipping bulker off Nigeria.

The crew were abducted from the 47,000-dwt Glarus (built 2001) last month off Bonny Island.

Talks with the kidnappers are ongoing, the Swiss daily SonntagsBlick reported.

The men include seven Filipinos, a Croatian, a Bosnian, a Slovenian, a Ukrainian and a Romanian.