According to statistics and maritime sources, at least 30 commercial ships were anchored on Wednesday in Gabon's waterways after military personnel claimed to have taken control of the Central African nation.
After the country's electoral board declared that President Ali Bongo had won a third term, military officials in the oil-producing nation said they had placed him under house arrest. State institutions were abolished, and borders were sealed.
Based on a report seen in the American news platform, Reuters, there was already a backlog of vessels, on the day of the supposed coup.
Ship monitoring information from analytics company MarineTraffic revealed on Wednesday that the boats included commercial cargo ships as well as tankers that had halted close to the nation's major ports, including Owendo, close to the capital Libreville, and Port Gentil farther south.
Ambrey, a British marine security firm, said that since the coup declaration, port activities in Libreville had ceased and no vessels had arrived or left the port. "Ambrey is aware that movements in and out of Gabon have been closed down following an early morning announcement by military officials," the security firm disclosed via an advisory.
On Wednesday, a representative for the German container shipping giant Hapag Lloyd (HLAG.DE) said that one of its ships is now docked in Libreville and unable to depart because of the border closures.
Another container ship run by the Danish company A.P. Moller-Maersk (MAERSKb.CO) was also docked near Libreville, according to ship tracking data. A request for comment from Maersk was delayed.
Carlyle Group CG.O, the controlling shareholder of Assala Energy, said that there had been no impact on the company's oil output in Gabon. Ambrey said that offshore terminals were still open despite the inconvenience at Gabonese ports.
The safety of its workers and the operations it runs in Gabon is its top priority, according to the Danish shipping company NORDEN (DNORD.CO), which manages port logistics there for a project with the manganese mining firm Comilog. Comilog is a division of the French metalworking company Eramet (ERMT.PA).