This is the moment a barge full of food is pillaged after becoming stuck on a sandbank in a river in Brazil while criminals hold the crew hostage.

The images, apparently filmed by the vessel's security cameras, show it stranded on the sandbank in the middle of the river in Manicore, in the Brazilian state of Amazonas, on September 6.

A flotilla of small vessels manoeuvres nearby, with the video showing several people removing cargo from the ship and handing it to others in boats.

Local media reported that 1,200 tonnes of food were looted in the incident on the Madeira River.

Reports indicate that looters began pillaging the vessel at around 10 pm on September 6 and only stopped the following morning after the police arrived on the scene.

The vessel had left Rondonia with its cargo and was reportedly bound for Manaus.

The owner of the freight vessel, a company named Akel Correia, said that the attackers held the vessel's 10 crew hostage.

They also noted that the crooks had carried out the operation to loot the vessel as a reprisal in response to Federal Police operations against illegal mining activities along the river.

The company reported that several threatening messages were left on the vessel, warning of continued looting of other ships if actions against miners persist.