New Delhi: A crew of 20 Indians aboard the oil tanker MV Duke has been kidnapped by pirates in Gulf of Guinea in West Africa.

V Ships Ship Management (India) Pvt Ltd., managers of the oil/chemical product tanker Duke, reported that contact was lost with the vessel in the early hours of Monday morning.

The Marshal Island's flag vessel was some 110 miles south-east of Lome, Togo, where it was heading to discharge a cargo of fuel oil loaded at Luanda.

It is understood from the IMB piracy reporting centre and MDAT-GOG that there was a pirate attack between 0700 hrs and 0800 hrs local time involving the kidnapping of the crew, leaving one Nigerian cadet on-board.

It is yet to be confirmed that this attack involved the MV Duke which has a crew of 20 Indian nationals on-board and one Nigerian national.

According to a statement, the owners and managers of MV Duke are working closely with the relevant local authorities to try to establish contact with the vessel and crew, their well-being and safety being the prime focus and concern at this time.

The managers are contacting the families of crew members to keep them fully informed on the situation. Further information will be provided as they become available.

The vessel was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea. The ship wasn't identified, but according to available information, it's tanker Duke en route to Lome from Luanda. Reportedly, only one crew avoided the pirates, while the rest were kidnapped.

The attack comes in the wake of yet another similar attack near the Nigerian coast, when eighteen Indians on board a Hong-Kong-flagged vessel were kidnapped by pirates on December 3.

India ramps up fight against sea piracy

Meanwhile, a new bill which seeks to provide for stringent punishment, including the death penalty or life imprisonment to those involved in piracy at sea, was introduced in Lok Sabha on December 9.

The proposed Anti-Maritime Piracy Bill is aimed at promoting the safety and security of India's maritime trade including the safety of its crew members, the bill states.

India does not have separate domestic legislation on piracy. According to the statement of objects of the bill, the provisions of the Indian Penal Code pertaining to armed robbery and the Admiralty jurisdiction of certain courts were invoked to prosecute pirates apprehended by the Indian Navy and the Coast Guard so far.

According to Section 3 of the bill, "whoever commits any act of piracy, shall be punished  (i) with imprisonment for life; or (ii) with death, if such person in committing the act of piracy causes death or an attempt thereof."

The proposed law is part of the commitment made by India while signing the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in 1982. The UNCLOS was ratified by India in 1995.

(With inputs from agencies)