News that the vessel was carrying petrol from Nigeria to the US has also raised eyebrows. Nigeria is a major exporter of crude oil but generally imports its refined fuel products.
Some of the 23 crew described the terrifying moment when, in the darkness, they realised the pirates were approaching.
"Our radar picked up four unlit boats. They were much bigger than the standard boats here. They had twin engines and approached very fast. They were on both sides of the ship and each boat had about five well-armed people on board," Capt Aron Chandran told the BBC.
"Within five minutes, one or two of them were on board, fully armed and in full combat battle dress."
The crew had been trained for such a scenario and they all locked themselves in a safe room, known as a citadel, out of reach of the gang.
The pirates smashed the glass windows to get access to the bridge in an effort to take control of the 183m (600ft) -long vessel.
Call for help
"I think they are professional. They knew what to do. They started reducing the speed of the engines and then stopped them," said Capt Chandran.
Crew of the Abu Dhabi Star Crew of the Abu Dhabi Star said the most frightening part of their ordeal was calling their relatives
"With the communication equipment and the satellite they knew exactly what to break and what to disable."
Out of sight of the pirates, some of the crew then climbed up to the funnel deck where they could get a mobile phone signal. After the call for help, it was a long and anxious wait.
"It was very disturbing. We knew what to do but mentally we were very, very disturbed," chief engineer Rajbir Dhankhar recalled.
"From the funnel, the captain and I were monitoring the situation as we didn't want a collision or pollution so we were watching to ensure there was no accident. We still had control of the engines and the steering so we could manoeuvre a little bit," he said.
Grateful
Throughout the ordeal they would have been aware that during previous attacks in the Gulf of Guinea crews have often been treated violently.
Unlike piracy off the coast of Somalia, where the seafarers are used as bargaining chips to secure a hefty ransom, in this region the gangs are after the cargo and so the welfare of the crew is of little consequence to the pirates.
Map
The crew of the Abu Dhabi Star noticed that the manifold was open so suspected that the cargo was being offloaded.
"At around 11 o'clock in the morning - almost 12 hours after the attack - a naval helicopter started circling the ship," the captain said. But by that time, the pirates had already left, some two or three hours earlier.
The Nigerian navy had initially said its intervention had prompted the pirates to flee the scene. Even though the pirates had long gone, the crew were nevertheless grateful when the help came.
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