"Pirates aboard a dugout canoe boarded the GDona1 tanker flying a Togolese flag and tried to divert it from its destination," Security Minister Yark Damehame said in a statement.

"Happily, the Togolese navy foiled this attack," the statement said.

The Gulf of Guinea is a hotbed of sea piracy. From the start of the year through April, more than 38 incidents have been reported,including 10 kidnappings.

Most of the incidents have been blamed on armed Nigerian groups off the Niger Delta.

"Recent attacks in Togo waters have been rare in 2019," Dirk Steffan of the consultancy Risk Intelligence told AFP.

He described Sunday's foiled attack as "only one notable incident," adding: "We believe that it was involved in fuel smuggling and that the incident was related to illicit activity, rather than an outright piracy attack."