Italian Tanker, Enrico Ievoli Hijacked by Pirates Off Oman
In the early hours of December 27, off the coast of Oman, the Italian-owned chemical tanker, Enrico Ievoli, was reported attacked and hijacked by pirates.
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| Italian MT Enrico Ievoli (Photo: MarineTraffic.com) |
The news has been confirmed by the Italian Foreign Ministry that the chemical tanker carrying approximately 15,750 tons of caustic soda had been pirated.
MT Enrico Ievoli, sailing from Fujairah (UAE) bound for the Mediterranean Sea, was captured approximately 215 nautical miles East by Northeast of Salalah, but less than 40nm from the Oman coast, at 0403 UTC. With a crew of 18 comprising of six Italians, five Ukrainians and seven Indians, it is owned by Marnavi of Naples in Italy. The Master had alerted the Italian Coastguard headquarters. It was heading toward the randevouz point with the Chinese armed convoy.
"As far as we know, the Enrico Ievoli is currently in movement towards an unknown destination. We presume it's Somalia," Domenico Levoli, the director of Marnavi said in speaking to AFP. Levoli went on to say the ship's Italian captain, Agostino Musumeci, had told him: "The pirates are on board but we are all fine." According to the Master the hijacking went through without damage and injury to the crew. Everybody on board is unharmed.
The hijack of the tanker comes after two Italian tankers, Rosalia D'Amato and Savina Caylyn were freed for a total of around US$17 million. The Enrico Ievoli had experienced a pirate attack in March 2006.
Recent reporting of pirate activity in the Horn of Africa and Indian Ocean regions stated that pirate attacks, despite the record high level so far this year, have seen fewer successes than earlier in the year, and greatly reduced in comparison to this time in 2010. The great efforts on the part of naval forces, the implementation of ship 'hardening' measures using Best Management Practices (BMP) and the carrying of armed guards was seen as achieving much of the success in reducing attacks and hijacks.
On average, vessels have been held by Somali pirates for 5 months, although some have been held for considerably longer - MV Iceberg 1 has been held for over 19 months.
On opening a 24-hour Marnavi Crisis Unit, the company said "We apologize with all involved parties for the reserve used in handling informations but this is required by the situation and the need to take care of the feeling and the privacy of the families involved in this event."
According to Somalia Report, a pirate source in Harardheere confirmed that pirates had hijacked the Italian vessel.
“I don’t know the name of vessel, but the hijackers contacted some pirates in Harardhere area early today (Tuesday) and told them that they had taken the Italian vessel,” Tuur, a Harardheere area pirate told Somalia Report.
The vessel is now heading to Harardheere.
The hijackers themselves hail from Harardheere, and belong to the Sa'ad and Saleebaan sub-clans of the Hawiye. The group's leader has not been identified yet, but he will be expected to share the eventual ransom with prominent pirate bosses in the area, including Mohamed Garfanje and Guushaaye, according to pirate sources.
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