Somali Pirates sea-jack Norwegian Tanker off Seychelles
(sap/ecoterra)
A Marshall Islands-flagged oil-product tanker with 21 crew was captured today in the Indian Ocean by presumed Somali pirates.
The 9,224dwt UBT OCEAN was taken this morning while heading towards Dar es Salaam, the Seafarers Assistance Programme reported. Naval centers confirmed the attack at position 04°34'S-048°09'E Indian Ocean and reported as time 06h39 UTC (0939 LT).
The Royal Navy’s Dubai-based UK Maritime Trade Operations told Fairplay that it received a call from the vessel this morning, with one crew member saying it was being attacked, but the office was unable to obtain any further information due to poor reception.
“Since then, we have tried to phone them repeatedly, but haven’t been successful,” a UKMTO watchkeeper said.
Fairplay was unable to contact the vessel's operator, Singapore-based Nautictank.
However, the vessel is now heading north toward Somali waters, the ship's Norwegian owners said Friday.
The UBT Ocean, with a crew of 21, was carrying fuel oil from the United Arab Emirates to Tanzania, Svenn Pedersen, chief executive of shipowners Brovigtank, told Reuters. He said contact was lost with the vessel at about 0530 GMT Friday.
"It's a relatively small ship of about 9,000 dead weight tonnes and about 120 meters long." Pedersen declined to specify the nationalities of the 21 all-Asian crew.
Mr Pedersen said the owners had received a call from the captain who said there were pirates on board the ship.
"The captain of the ship called us early this morning and told us: we have pirates on board. Very quickly afterwards we lost all contact with the boat," company director Svenn Pedersen told AFP news agency.
The vessel had taken a route well south of the zone where pirates operate, Pedersen added.
It appeared later to be northbound towards Somalia, he said, stressing that he did not know if the crew had suffered any injuries.
Norway's foreign ministry said it had been alerted of a Norwegian-owned ship being hijacked.
A spokesman said since the vessel was not Norwegian-flagged or had any nationals in the crew, Oslo would not have a major role in the evolution of the situation.
The UBT Ocean is registered in the Marshall Islands and was captured between the East Africa coast and the archipelago of the Seychelles - not around Madagascar as many media falsely reported.
Its seizure comes two days after pirates captured a Saudi tanker and its crew in the Gulf of Aden and sailed it to the Somali town of Garacad.
An international naval force is patrolling the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean but has been unable to stop attacks on shipping from pirates based in Somalia, says the BBC.
War-ravaged Somalia has had no functioning government since 1991.
Source: Ecoterra Int’l 3-5-10