Pirate activity off the
Horn of Africa saw 2 oil tankers hijacked prompting outrage; Further outrage at treatment of hostages; Call for greater action from navies; India free crew and arrests pirates. The following is a situational
map of the events over the
last week.
Last week, every vessel attacked in the region had managed to evade hijack; not so this week. The impact of the hijack of two oil tankers in just 2 days has drawn outrage from within the shipping industry. With the revelations of execution of a boatswain on the Beluga Nomination, in retaliation along with the deaths of two other crewmembers during the failed rescue attempt, has seen the call from shipping organizations for greater action from the international navies and for the wider use of armed guards on merchant ships. A confusing event came about on 5 February when Chinese and Yemen authorities announced the hijack of the Hong Kong-registered vessel, MV Tien Hau, off the port of al-Hudaida in the Red Sea. Chinese maritime authorities stated that the vessel, with 22 crew, had not been hijacked and was being escorted by the Chinese Navy
The piracy events in the Horn of Africa region this week are;
Hijacks:
- 9 February, Greek-flagged and Panamanian-owned Very Large Crude Carrier, MV IRENE SL, which was carrying about 2 million barrels of crude oil, worth roughly $200 million, was reported hijacked in position 2127N 06318E, approximately 350NM Southeast of Muscat in the North Arabian Sea.
- 8 February, Italian-flagged and -owned oil tanker, MV SAVINA CAYLYN, was reported hijacked in position 1210N 06600E, approximately 670NM East of Socotra Island in the Indian Ocean. Following a sustained attacked by pirates in a skiff with 5 persons onboard
using small arms and RPGs.
The unsuccessful pirate attacks were:
- 8 February,vehicle carrier, Delphinus Leader, underway was attacked by pirates in
position 1306N 06409E, approximately 560NM East of Socotra Island. The
ship increased speed and
took evasive manoeuvres and managed to evade the hijack attempt;
- 5 February, Greek-flagged VLCC Chios 155nm Northwest of Minicoy Island, India (IMB Report) a crude tanker which returned fire using rocket flares. Evaded attack after 90 minutes;
- 10 February, MV was attacked by pirates from 5 skiffs with 5-6 persons onboard in position 1251N
04315E in the Bab El Mandeb Strait in the Red Sea off Yemen. The MV managed to evade the hijack attempt.
Suspicious and Pirate Action Group activity is detailed in the OCEANUSLive situational map. Of note is the movement of the pirated fishing vessel, ZOULFECAR, which has been used as a mothership in the region.Joe Angelo, the managing director of INTERTANKO, an association whose
members own the majority of the world’s tanker fleet, said the hijacking of Irene SL
marked “a significant shift in the impact of the piracy crisis in the
Indian Ocean.” The Irene SL’s cargo of Kuwaiti crude oil represented
nearly 20 percent of total U.S. daily crude oil imports and it has the potential to severely disrupt
oil flows to the United States and the rest of the world. Along with Jan Kopernicki, chairman of Maritime UK and president of the London-based
Chamber of Shipping, he urged
governments to step up anti-piracy efforts. “The piracy situation is now spinning out of control into the entire Indian Ocean,” he told Reuters. BIMCO,
the International Chamber of Shipping, INTERCARGO, INTERTANKO and the
International Transport Workers’ Federation expressed outrage that Somali
pirates had executed, apparently in cold blood, a seafarer on the
merchant ship Beluga Nomination.The Indian Navy and Coast Guard apprehended a pirate mothership, the fishing vessel Prantalay 11, in the Arabian Sea. After opening fire on the naval vessels, the pirates ran up the white flag and surrendered. Some had jumped overboard. A total of 52 people were taken into custody; 28 were Somali pirates with 24 Thai crewmen from the fishing vessel. It was reported that the Indian navy and Coast Guard had foiled an attack on the Greek-flagged VLCC Chios 155nm Northwest of Minicoy Island, India. The pirates now face trial in Mumbai, India. A video report is available here.
The first participation by a Finnish warship in an international operation has seen the FNS Pohjanmaa quickly involved in providing assistance to the fishing vessel, Golden Wave, also known as Keummi 305, released by pirates. The South Korean govenment had requested assitance from EUNAVFOR, which tasked the Finnish warship to provide food, water and medical care to the crew. The vessel is now being escorted to Mombasa in Kenya. prior to transiting the region is recommended.
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Any suspicious activity should be reported to UKMTO in Dubai in the first instance (UKMTO@eim.ae or Telephone+971 50 552 3215
) and on entering the UKMTO Voluntary Reporting Area (VRA) bound by Suez,78E and 10S
.
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