Two U.S. Mariners Kidnapped & Held Hostage from the Oilfield Supply Ship ‘C-Retriever’ Off the Nigeria Coast Last Month Have Been Released

CNN is reporting that two US citizens who were kidnapped from the U.S. flagged C-Retriever off the Nigerian coast last month have been released. The two freed individuals have only been identified U.S. and Nigerian officials as the the ship’s captain and a chief engineer.

Two U.S. citizens who were kidnapped from an oilfield supply ship off Nigeria’s coast last month have been released, U.S. State Department spokeswoman Jennifer Psaki confirmed Tuesday.

News of the release comes nearly three weeks after armed men stormed the 221-foot U.S.-flagged C-Retriever and kidnapped the two Americans, identified at the time by U.S. and Nigerian officials as the captain and a chief engineer.

The ship, owned by Louisiana-based Edison Chouest Offshore, was attacked October 23 in the piracy-plagued Gulf of Guinea off Nigeria.

The pirate assult on the C-Retriever was first reported at the gCaptain website.

Additional gCaptain sources also indicate that the Edison Chouest-owned, US-flagged platform supply vessel C-Retriever was working in a nearby field off Brass, Nigeria and was also attacked, an incident that our sources indicate was unrelated to the attack on the JTF personnel.  Our source notes that the Captain and Chief Engineer, who are both US citizens, were kidnapped. A very close family friend of the Chief Engineer (who identified himself as his brother, but whos name is withheld at his request) confirmed with us that the FBI is working on the case.