(Adds military confirmation) By Nick Tattersall LAGOS, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Gunmen in speedboats attacked Nigerian navy vessels guarding the country's main crude oil and liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminals on Wednesday, the Nigerian military and security sources said. The attackers hit gunboats protecting Bonny Island in the Niger Delta, home to an LNG terminal whose exports make up close to 10 percent of world supply and to Nigeria's biggest crude oil export facility, operated by Royal Dutch Shell <RDSa.L>. "The intention was likely to surprise our troops, capture arms, ammunition and if possible snatch our gun boat," Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa, a spokesman for the joint military taskforce (JTF) in the delta, told Reuters. He said six speedboats had attacked navy gunboats close to the LNG terminal but that the gunmen were repelled. He said one JTF personnel was wounded but was in a stable condition. The unrest is the first significant strike on the energy industry since the region's main militant group, the Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), announced a ceasefire last month after a plea from community elders. No group has claimed responsibility for the latest attack. A worker in the LNG plant on Bonny said he had heard shooting which appeared to be less than half a kilometre from the facility's living quarters. A private security source working in the oil industry said the assailants had fled into the narrow creeks around Bonny Island and that they may return for another strike. Shell said it could not immediately confirm any details. Bonny, in the southern Niger Delta, is home to Nigeria's only functioning LNG plant, controlled by a group of Western companies including Shell, Total <TOTF.PA> and Eni unit Agip <ENI.MI>. State oil firm NNPC owns 49 percent. It is also home to Nigeria's biggest single crude oil export terminal by volume, which is owned by SPDC, a joint venture in which NNPC also holds a stake. (For full Reuters Africa coverage and to have your say on the top issues, visit: http://africa.reuters.com/ ) (Additional reporting by Austin Ekeinde; Editing by Jon Boyle)
