Armed pirates held up crew members at gunpoint last week, forcing them to help load stolen goods from a platform operated by Pemex in Mexico’s Bay of Campeche.
The gang of 10 armed robbers boarded the platform at the Rebombeo pumping complex last Tuesday evening, workers told local media.
According to Maritime Executive, the pirates stayed for about three hours and fled with tools, Self-Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA) and other materials that they stole from the platform.
The pirates forced the crew to carry the stolen goods and to help them load three getaway boats.
None of the crew members was injured during the robbery.
The platform is a re-pumping station for three major oil pipelines that connect the Bay of Campeche's offshore fields with an on-shore receiving facility.
It has capacity of 800 000 barrels per day and is a central infrastructure node for Pemex's offshore operations.
The Gulf of Mexico is rife with piracy and armed robbery where criminal gangs regularly target platforms and offshore support vessels.
The number of incidents is believed to be higher than the officially reported statistics. Armed pirates targeted an offshore vessel near an oil field off Tabasco and fled with thousands of dollars-worth of equipment, including 35 sets of SCBAs in May.
The pirates fired warning shots into the air to force the crew to steer clear of them while they spent 45 minutes looting the vessel.
Pirates robbed the Ku Sierra platform in the Bay of Campeche, part of Pemex's core Ku-Maloob-Zaap field complex, fleeing with 25 SCBAs, tools, communications equipment and other gear in January.
