Greek Tanker, Liquid Velvet, Hijacked in the Gulf of Aden
The Greek-owned tanker, Liquid Velvet, was reported to have been hijacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden at the western end of the Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor (IRTC), the first in the area for over a year.
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| Hijacked tanker, MV Liquid Velvet (Photo: MarineTraffic.com) |
The Marshall Island-flagged chemical tanker, Liquid Velvet, with a crew of 22 comprising of 21 Filipinos, and reportedly an unarmed guard believed to be a Greek security consultant [UPDATE: later reports state the 'advisor' is an Australian]. The tanker, built in 1994 with DWT 11559, was en route from the Suez to India.
Later reports state that the crew managed to secure themselves in the citadel, but the pirates were able to breach the safe room to capture the crew.
The attack, in the IRTC, is the first successful hijack of a comercial vessel in the area for over a year say sources, and took place approximately 55 nautical miles Southeast of the Yemen captial of Aden. She was attacked around 0858 UTC and then reported hijacked at 1152 UTC on October 31. It is not known whether the ship had use of an appropriately provisioned citadel.
Following the cessation of the monsoon season, pirates have been largely unsuccessful in their attacks, despite the record level of attacks occurring off the coast of Somali in the first 9 months of this year. Ships have adopted better self protection measures and increasingly employed the services of private armed guards.
Following the announcement by the British Prime Minister, David Cameron, which said he wanted to legalise armed guards after talks in Australia with Commonwealth leaders from the region over the escalating problem faced in waters off their shores, this attack demonstrates the determination of the Somali pirates to continue to endanger the lives of seafarers and hold the world's economy to ransom.
Details remain skectchy on precisely what happened in the IRTC, heavily patrolled by international naval forces over the last few years, however, the vessel managed by Athens-based Elmira Tankers, was not the only vessel attacked by pirates on October 31.
Two other merchant vessels were attacked in the Indian Ocean.
A merchant ship was attacked by 3 white skiffs at around 1415 UTC, East of the Somalia and Kenyan border, but with a vessel protection detachment (VPD - usually military-manned) onboard, the pirates aborted the attack.
The second attack, around 2030 UTC, East of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, saw a merchant ship come under fire from an unknown number of pirate skiffs under the cover of darkness. The onboard armed security team returned fire, and the pirates ceased their attack after 30 minutes. The pirates had fired on the bridge, port and stardboard accommodation and portholes.
The attacks have also seen a flurry of reports of suspicious activity, including sighting a mothership, as far North as the Arabian Sea off Oman, and down to the South, East of the southern Somali coast.
No word on the fate of any of the Liquid Velvet crew has been received as yet, and the vessel is expected to be making its way towards the Somali coast. Whether a rescue mission will be launched has not been disclosed, but the likelihood of such a measure depends on many facotrs before it can be considered.
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