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← Older postsCommerial Vessels in Pirate Captivity
*as at 18 February 2012 (source: UKMTO)
- ICEBERG 1 (RORO/CARGO – Reported as Aground) – Flagstate: Panama. Date Taken: 29 March 2010. Number of Crew: 24. Number of days held: 691.
- ALBEDO (Container) – Flagstate: Malaysia. Date taken: 26 November 2010. Number of Crew: 23. Number of days held: 449.
- ORNA (Bulker) – Flagstate: Panama. Date taken: 20 December 2010. Number of Crew: 19. Number of days held: 428.
- LIQUID VELVET (Chemical Tanker) – Flagstate: Marshall Islands. Date taken:31 October 2011. Number of Crew: 22. Number of days held: 110.
- ENRICO IEVOLI (Chemical/Oil Products Tanker) – Flagstate: Italy. Date taken: 27 December 2011. Number of Crew: 18. Number of days held: 53
- FREE GODDESS (Bulker) – Flagstate: Liberia. Date taken: 07 February 2012. Number of Crew: 21. Number of days held: 11.
Posted in Vessels in Pirate Captivity |
**VESSEL PIRATED – 15 FEBRUARY 1510Z1**
A Merchant Vessel has been pirated at 1510Z on 15 Feb 12 approximately 25nmiles SE of Sadh (east of Salalah). Last known posn 1904N 05808E at 0227Z on 18 Feb 12.
Posted in Piracy Attacks |
*MISTAKEN FOR PIRATES – 2 INDIAN FISHERMEN KILLED*
Kochi 15th February: In a tragic development, two Indian fishermen were killed after security detail onboard an Italian merchant vessel fired at them off Kollam coast suspecting them to be pirates.
The fishermen from Kanyakumari in Tamil Nadu had put out to sea on the morning of Wednesday 15th February from Neendakara in Kollam district.
The Italian ship Enrica Lexie is currently anchored 14 kilometres from the Kochi coast. Police and other officials have arrived to ascertain further details about the incident, following which future course of action would be charted out by Indian authorities. A naval press release said personnel onboard Enrica Lexie fired on the fishermen mistaking them for pirates and that the vessel informed authorities about the incident. There were around 10-12 fishermen in the fishing vessel at the time of the incident.
The Coast Guard then launched two ships ‘Sumar’ and ‘Lakshmi Bai’ and an aircraft to trace the ship, located it and asked it to anchor off Kochi for a detailed investigation.
The Kerala cabinet today decided to give Rs 5 lakh compensation each to the next of kin of the two fishermen shot dead.
State Fisheries Minister K Babu told a news agency that it remained to be seen how the issue was settled as an Italian ship was involved.
Chief Minister Oommen Chandy has asked the home department to register a case and do all the necessary procedures as it involves a foreign vessel.
Posted in Latest News |
**PIRATES KILL CAPTAIN AND CHIEF ENGINEER**
The International Maritime Bureau is warning vessels to stay clear of waters off Nigeria after pirates killed the captain and chief engineer of a bulk carrier on Monday 13th February, the third attack in West African waters in a week.
The killings off the coast of Lagos, Nigeria’s largest shipping gateway, came after pirates attacked a ship and hijacked a tanker ship near neighbouring Benin in the last week.
The IMB said although the average length of captivity of ships attacked off Benin and Nigeria is about 10 days compared with six months in Somali hijackings, the attacks can be more violent. While 10 attacks were reported in Nigeria in 2011, the number is “not representative of the real threat of Nigeria.”
“Underreporting of attacks in Nigeria continues to be a cause for concern, and IMB states that it is aware of at least another 34 unreported incidents in Nigerian waters,” the agency said.
In neighbouring Benin, there were 20 incidents involving tankers, eight of which were hijacked and had cargoes partly stolen.
Source: The Journal of Commerce
Posted in Latest News, Piracy Attacks |
** MV FREE GODDESS CAPTURED 07/02/2012 **
MV Free Goddess (IMO 9107045), has been successfully hijacked by Somali pirates. According to the report we received, the Liberia-flagged bulk carrier came under attack on Feb 7 in position 16.03N – 062.26E at around 1500 UTC from an unknown number of pirates.
Reports state that UKMTO received a call from the CSO of Free Goddess stating that he could not contact the vessel. The Free Goddess was en route from Adabiya, Egypt to Singapore, carrying 19,475mt of steel cable with a crew of 21 Filipinos on board. The vessel is not responding to any calls.
The last known positional data on the Free Goddess is that she has dramatically altered course and her last recorded position was 11.59N – 056.09E at 0533 UTC Feb 9, approximately 110nm south east of Socotra Island.
Trade Winds News stated the loss of the bulker to pirates comes as a heavy blow at a time when hijackings have been falling.
Experts note hijackings have fallen to a rate of one a month since last summer. This compares with the successful capture of seven ships last January alone.
The Free Goddess is one of seven handysizes in the Freeseas fleet, all of which are trading in the battered spot market. The company saw it’s market value drop by close to one tenth following news of the hijack.
According to CMF, the vessel is heading towards the Somali coast.
(SOURCE: OCEANUSLIVE.org)Posted in Piracy Attacks |
**VESSEL PIRATED 07 FEB 2012**
A Merchant Vessel originally reported as under attack on 071500ZFEB12 in position 1603N 06226E is now confirmed as pirated.
Vessel in position 1159N 05609E at 090533ZFEB12, approximately 110nm south east of Socotra.
Vessels transiting the area are to exercise extreme caution.
Posted in Piracy Attacks |
Gulf of Aden IRTC – Korean Naval Convoy Schedule (January and February 2012)
The Republic of Korea’s Navy has announced that in January and February 2012 they will execute convoys in accordance with the schedule below. In case of more than two hours delay, convoys are not guaranteed.
In the first half of January 2012 the Korean convoys are executed by Republic of Korea Ship MTG. On 15 January this duty is taken over by Republic of Korea Ship DJY.
Eastbound convoys, rendezvous position “A”: 12 07 N – 044 11 E:
06 January, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship MTG
20 January, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
07 February, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
19 February, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
25, February, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
Westbound convoys, rendezvous position “B”: 14 54 N – 054 41 E:
03 January, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship MTG
09 January, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship MTG
17 January, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
26 January, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
04, February, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
10, February, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
22, February, 0400Z, Republic of Korea Ship DJY
Convoy speed
The convoys’ base speed is 12 Knots. Ships should be able to maintain 12 knots throughout the transit.
Joining instructions
Merchant vessels that wish to join the ROK Naval escort task group need to submit their application directly to the ROK warship actually conducting the escort (via the Cheong hae 8th dispatch, which is the name of the Korean responsible for the tasking of the Korean warships). Application form can be found via link below, and registered ships should establish good communications with the warship at least 24 hours prior to convoy start time.
Furthermore, from 24 hours prior to convoy start time, please update the ship’s position, course, speed, and ETA every 4 hours.
Contact details
Applications to be submitted by one of the following means:
INMARSAT Republic of Korea Ship DJY: 870-783-110-375
Email: cheonghae8th@gmail.com
Posted in Latest News |
28/01/2012: 1042 UTC: Posn: 04:55N – 058:14E, around 620nm NE of Mogadishu, Somalia
A general cargo ship underway noticed a mother ship lowering a skiff. The skiff with five armed pirates was seen approaching the vessel. The onboard armed security team fired warning flares which were ignored by the skiff. As the skiff approached the vessel, at a distance of 500 meters the security team fired warning shots resulting in the skiff aborting and moving away.
source: IMB Piracy Report 30/01/2012
Posted in Alerts |
28/01/2012: 0340 LT: Posn: 05:48N – 118:05E, Sandakan Inner Anchorage, Sabah, Malaysia
Robbers boarded an anchored chemical tanker. The duty A/B on rounds sighted the robbers, armed with long knives, and immediately informed the duty officer. Seeing the crew alertness, the robbers escaped with stolen ship’s stores.
source: IMB Piracy Report 30/01/2012
Posted in Alerts |
27/01/2012: 2230 LT: Posn: 20:38.4N – 106:53.0E, Haiphong anchorage, Vietnam
Eight robbers armed with long knives boarded an anchored container ship. They took the duty A/B hostage, forced him into the bosun store and tied him up. The robbers stole ship stores and escaped. As the A/B was not answering calls on the walkie talkie, a search party was sent forward and rescued the A/B. The Master tried to contact Haiphong port control but received no response.
source: IMB Piracy Report 30/01/2012
Posted in Alerts |
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