Three crew members from a bunker barge have been kidnapped during a pirate attack in the Gulf of Guinea off the coast of West Africa.

According to the security firm Dryad Global, the Bunker barge Stelios K was hijacked last week when it was sailing from Athens to Lagos, Nigeria.

It says the ship was subsequently abandoned off the coast of Lagos, and three crew members have been kidnapped.

The situation with pirate attacks in the Gulf of Guinea has escalated in 2020 and is described by Dryad Global as "critical."

Despite the many attacks, this is just the second time this year that a ship is attacked in the actual gulf.

Altogether, 23 ships have been attacked in the region this year.