Merchant Vessel fires warning to pirates 40 nautical miles off the Indian west coast
At 1000 UTC on 16 February, in position 2053.2N – 06939.1E, around 40nm south of Porbandar, India, 3 pirate skiffs were detected at 6.3 nm ahead of an underway crude tanker, the NS CENTURY, a SCF Novoship. A suspected mothership, without an AIS signal, was also detected via radar around 17nm ahead. The skiffs, with 6-8 person on board, increased speed and headed towards the SOVCOMFLOT tanker. Having alerted the crew, the Master ordered the vessel to carry out evasive manoeuvres, but the skiffs closed to within 3 cables. The armed security team on board the tanker fired warning shots, which saw the skiffs stop the approach and were then seen moving back to the mothership. Small arms were sighted in the skiffs but no ladders, part of the pirate paraphernalia, were observed.The tanker evaded any possible hijack attempt. This approach, culminating in the failure of an attack, bears out the growing demand by ship-owners in some quarters to embark armed guards on merchant vessels. The fact that this incident occurred so close to the west coast of India will not go unnoticed. The Indian Navy and Coast Guard have recently increased their stance on combating piracy in the Indian Ocean region and will undoubtedly widen their search to detect this particular Pirate Action Group. There was no further report to clarify whether the pirates were from Somalia, which would indicate this approach as one of the farthest attempted attacks in the east of the Indian Ocean. Original report via IMB Piracy Reporting Centre here.
Vessels are reminded that the coalition forces' warships may not be in the vicinity of a pirate attack, subsequently, it is emphasised that seafarers can greatly reduce their chances of being pirated if they follow precautions as recommended in the Best Management Practices, increasing speed and carrying out evasive manoeuvres is a proven deterrent to piracy attacks.
Vessels are advised to exercise extreme caution when navigating in the vicinity of the reported position of the approach and maintain maximum CPA with any ship acting suspiciously. Additionally, registration of vessel movement with MSC(HOA)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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