News

The 'Tornado', enmroute from Port Harcourt to Lagos, thwarted a pirate attack in position 05 30 00N, 003 41 00E, about 59 miles south of Lagos on Jan 20, 2020, at 11 p.m. A skiff with five or six gunmen on board approached the vessel, and a long ladder with hooks was seen on the skiff. The tanker escaped at a speed of 12 knots.

The 'Horizon' was boarded by perpetrators in the waters off Kabil in Riau Islands, on Jan 21, 2020. Two people boarded the vessel in an attempt to steal its equipment while two waited on a boat. The crew of the tanker confronted the suspected thieves and sustained minor injuries. One of the suspects was arrested by local authorities.

Eight crew members of the 'Happy Lady' who had been taken hostage by Nigerian pirates on Dec 21, 2019, two miles off Limboh, were released on Jan 22, 2020. All of them were reported to be safe and sound. Among the kidnapped sailors were the master, engineers and officers. They were to be repatriated after medical checks. Five of them were Greek, the 45-year-old captain of the ship, a 26-year-old deck officer, a 38-year-old engineer and two sea cadets, aged 20 and 21. The other three crew were two Filipinos and a Ukrainian. During the attack a Greek national among the 28 crew on board was injured and was transferred to a local hospital.

The 'MSC Grace' has been attacked whilst underway approximately 45 miles West-Southwest of Brass, Nigeria. A black speedboat with a white flag and 15 armed pirates on board fired upon the vessel. The container ship did have an onboard security team, who returned fire which resulted in the pirates aborting their attack. During this incident the crew retreated to the citadel. The Nigerian authorities have been notified.On Jan 21, the ship was sailing towards Port Harcourt and dropped anchor on Bonny River Anchorage in pos. 04° 28.93' N 007° 10.80' E at 6.45 p.m.

The 'Kowloon Bay', was boarded by an unknown number of perpetrators through the hawse pipe in Manila on Dec 23, 2020, at 3.30 p.m. They broke the padlock of the forecastle store and stole three pieces of cleaning apparatus from the storage area and one compressed air breathing apparatus. The crew only realised the theft had occurred later that day. The incident was reported to the Coast Guard Station Manila, whose personnel boarded the vessel to conduct an inquiry and investigate.