Th e'Success 9' was located on April 14 about 65 nautical miles southeast of Abijan off the Ivory Coast, and was taken to Abijan same day. All 20 crew members were safe, there were no kidnappings. The tanker was loaded with unspecified oil product which was the main and only aim of the hijack, and part of the cargo had been siphoned.
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ASMAA Z
The 'Jie Shun Da' was boarded by a perpetrator, while transiting the eastbound lane of the Singapore Strait in pos. 01 16 16N 104 12 30 E on April 2, 2023, at 3.45 p.m. The duty crew spotted him and raised the alarm, which caused the perpetrator to flee the vessel and escape. There were no reports of anything being stolen, and the crew was safe.
SUCCESS 9
The owner of the 'Success 9' vessel has not been able to communicate with the vessel, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said on April 13, four days after it was boarded by pirates around 570km off the Ivory Coast on April 9 with 20 crew members on board. The MPA has contacted the other authorities in the region, including the Ivory Coast and Ghanaian authorities, in addition to the Monrovia Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre. The Ivory Coast authorities have deployed their air and sea assets to the vicinity of the last known position of the vessel about 300 nautical miles from the city of Abidjan. The Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade also said that the vessel was not transmitting on AIS. Vessels in the vicinity were urged to report any sightings of the ship, or any suspicious activity.
MONJASA REFORMER
After the French naval ship FS 'Premier Maître L’Her' located the missing tanker by means of an aerial drone en route to the coast of Nigeria, a smaller vessel, believed to belong to the pirates, departed from the scene, taking six members of the crew with them. The 'Monjasa Reformer' by this stage was about 90 nautical miles south of Bonny. A doctor and nurse have boarded the tanker to provide any necessary treatment for the remaining crew. Meanwhile, the Nigerian naval ship NS 'Gongola' also arrived to provide any necessary assistance and support and to escort the tanker to the port of Lomé. A warning has now gone out from the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) to all mariners in the region to be extra vigilant and to exercise extreme caution while transiting the area. Report with photo: https://africaports.co.za/#6628
MONJASA REFORMER
The search for the six crew members of the 'Monjasa Reformer', taken hostage off the coast of West Africa, was going on. The hostage taking has raised concerns about a revival of piracy that had witnessed a brief lull over the past year and is a sobering reminder that this region is still plagued by piracy. The rescued crew members are all in good health and safely located in a secure environment and receiving proper attention. No damage was reported to the ship or the cargo of marine gas oil and sulphur fuel oil products it was carrying. The crew had alerted the management that pirates had boarded the vessel on the night of March 25. All sailors took refuge in the citadel, a designated safe area within a ship, in keeping with anti-piracy emergency protocols. The French Navy’s aerial drone located the vessel on March 30 and also recorded the presence of a pirate boat alongside the ship. When the naval patrol vessel began approaching the ship, another reconnaissance flight showed the pirate ship was no longer alongside the tanker. The crew still on board indicated that six of its members were kidnapped by pirates.