Jan 24 2014 Dynacom’s LR1 ‘Kerala’ was thought to have been hijacked by pirates off Angola. The shipmanagement concern confirmed that communication with the ‘Kerala’ was lost on 18th January. It was suspected that pirates had taken control of the vessel but this had not been confirmed, Dynacom said in a statement. ”Since then, we have taken immediate actions and working together with authorities/agencies for establishing communication, with the vessel,” the statement said. The 74,998 dwt 2009-built tanker was thought to have disappeared while fully loaded with gas oil. She was last seen 150 miles off the Angolan coast. In May, 2012, Dynacom’s 157,000 dwt Suezmax ‘Smyrni’ was the last ship successfully taken by Somali pirates. It was released after a ransom payment. In a warning to members, Skuld quoted security concern Dryad Maritime as saying that suspiscious activities have recently been observed off the Angolan coast. If the hijacking is confirmed, this means that Nigerian pirates are trying to extend their maritime zone to reach easier targets, ie ships that are not implementing protection against piracy, the insurance/P&I service concern warned. Meanwhile, on the other side of Africa, pirates attacked a Navios-controlled LR1 about 115 miles south of Salalah, Oman. This attack occurred during the evening of 17th January. According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB); Pirates in a skiff, launched from a mother vessel, approached and fired upon a product tanker underway. Master raised alarm, increased speed, altered course, activated SSAS, contacted UKMTO and the non-essential crew members mustered in the citadel. The on board armed security team returned fire resulting in the pirates aborting the attack. A coalition helicopter came to the location to assist. The vessel was identified as the Navios Tankers managed, 2013-built, 74,695 dwt, Marshall Islands flag, ‘Nave Antropos’. A Japanese naval vessel- ‘Samidare’ -was conducting merchant vessel escort duties through the Internationally Recommended Transit Corridor (IRTC) in the Gulf of Aden in support of the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) Combined Task Force (CTF) 151 when UKMTO received the report of the attack. ‘Samidare’ responded by heading towards the tanker and launched her helicopter to search for the pirate dhow ‘mother’ ship. Those on board the tanker at the time of the incident were reported safe and the vessel was able to resume her westbound voyage. In co-operation with a Japanese Maritime Patrol aircraft, ‘Samidares’ helicopter found the dhow and passed its location to the EU NAVFOR flagship, the French naval vessel ‘Siroco’. ‘Siroco’ was then able to sail towards the dhow and launch its helicopter and boarding team. The EU NAVFOR Force Commander, Rear Admiral Hervé Bléjean, said: Thanks to an exceptionally effective international co-operation, we showed once more that there will be no safe haven for piracy in the area as long as counter piracy forces remain fully dedicated to their task. I also congratulate ‘Siroco’ with this success.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 04:27:39 +0000
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