Gunmen have abducted five Polish sailors from a cargo ship off southern part of Nigeria.

The five men were kidnapped from a 16-man crew, Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski told reporters in Warsaw, Friday.

The minister said, “The attack occurred at night. A group of unknown assailants boarded the boat.

“Up to now, the kidnappers have not made contact,” he said, adding that the 11 other crew members were “safe and sound” still aboard their ship, the Szafir, anchored off the Nigerian coast.

The ship captain along with three officers and one crew member were kidnapped, Waszczykowski said.

The other crew members locked themselves in the ship’s engine room to escape capture, Polish media reported.

The 113-metre-long vessel belonging to the Euroafrica Polish shipowner was en route Nigeria’s Port Harcourt oil hub from Belgium.