Weekly Piracy Report

The following is from the International Maritime Bureau piracy reports, for more information click here.

Recently reported incidents

31.10.2007: 0330 LT: 06:15N – 003:15E, Lagos, Nigeria. Three pirates armed with knives boarded a tanker drifting. They took hostage the duty A/B and O/S and tied them up. They threatened the O/S with knives on his throat and asked him to open the accommodation doors but the O/S did not have the key. Two of the pirates then went to the bridge and assaulted the 2/O. The next watch keeper woke up and saw the movements on poop deck and raised the alarm. All crew mustered. Pirates escaped with ship’s stores, property, crew personal belongings and cash. First aid administered to the O/S who received knife injuries. Port control informed.

30.10.2007: 2120 LT: 03:59.6N-006:50.3E, 15 NM off fairway buoy, Bonny Town, Nigeria. Ten robbers armed with guns boarded a reefer vessel.  Alarm raised and crew mustered.  Robbers escaped.  Attempt to contact bonny signal station were futile

27.10.2007: 0142 LT: Santos outer roads anchorage, Brazil. Robbers armed with guns boarded a container ship and fired their guns at the approaching crew members.  For safety crew members locked themselves in a safer place.  Robbers opened 8 reefer containers and stole cargo contents and escaped.  No one was injured

19.10.2007: Offshore Lagos: Nigeria. Robbers armed with knives boarded a tanker at anchor.  They took as hostage one AB. They tied him up and warned him not to make any attempt to escape. They stole some ship’s store.  Robbers then took the AB into the accommodation and searched for money. They then returned to stern, lowered ship’s store into the waiting boat and escaped.

04.11.2007: 0130 LT: 21:40N – 088:01E, Hoogli river, Sagar roads anchorage, India. Six robbers armed with knives boarded a chemical tanker at anchor, via the poop deck. Crew raised alarm and activated anti-piracy measures. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped, with ship’s stores, in their waiting boat. No injuries to crew. Reported to harbour pilots but no action taken.

01.11.2007: 1320 LT: 01:52.5N – 102:09.5E, Malacca straits. A small-unlit high-speed craft came close to a general cargo ship underway. Master switched on all deck lights, assembled all crew, and closed all entrances to the accommodation. Fire hoses standby and search lights directed towards the boat. Ships speed increased and evasive manoeuvres carried out. VTIS Port Klang notified. After about one and a half hours of trailing, the speedboat aborted the attempt.  MRCC Kuala Lumpur was informed.

31.10.2007: 0410 LT: 06:44.84S – 039:35.02E, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Ten pirates in a 10m long wooden boat boarded a container ship drifting. They broke into three containers, stole ship’s stores, property and escaped as soon as the crew was alerted. Port control informed.

29.10.2007: 2130 LT 02:11.57N – 045:47.95E, Mogadishu inner anchorage, Somalia. The IMB Piracy Reporting Centre received a distress call that a general cargo ship was boarded and hijacked by seven armed pirates while at anchor after discharging cargo at Mogadishu. Pirates took control of the bridge, engine room and steering room.  There was a fight between the crewmembers and pirates.  Crew regained control the engine room and later managed to regain control of the bridge. Six crewmembers were injured.  An US warship rendered assistance in rescuing the crew and ship.  The injured crewmembers were given medical aid. Six pirates were captured and one killed.

28.10.2007: 2015 LT 21:40N-091:40E, Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh.
Duty AB on a tanker noticed three robbers armed with knives on poop deck.  He informed D/O on bridge who raised alarm and flashed the Aldis lamp towards the robbers. Robbers jumped overboard and escaped. Some ship’s stores found stolen.  Coast guard informed.

26.09.2007: 0236 LT: 14:36.4N – 120:52.05E, Vic north harbour anchorage, Manila, Philippines. Robbers boarded the ship at anchor from stbd side using grappling hook. They broke forecastle store lock and stole ship’s property and a life raft. Master reported to coast guard and they conducted an investigation and advised the master to take precautionary measures.

Maritime Safety News Today – 7 November 2007

Gas Carrier Grounded by Tropical Storm

Posted 11/02/07 at 06:47 AM

Coast Guard personnel deployed to San Pedro de Macoris, Dominican Republic to support Dominican Republic authorities during salvage operations of Liberian gas carrier SCF Tomsk which ran aground Monday.

Survivor: missing Chinese fishing boat capsized with nine crew aboard
Xinhua – China
One fisherman from the missing vessel was picked up from the water at about 10:00 am on Sunday by a passing freighter from the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Fuel-system problem stopped ship
The Southland Times – Southland,New Zealand
A Maritime New Zealand spokesman said a maritime safety inspector visited the ship on Saturday and confirmed that air trapped in the fuel system during a

Korean-owned ships freed by Somali pirates – group
Reuters South Africa – Johannesburg,South Africa
Andrew Mwangura, coordinator of the Kenya-based East African Seafarers‘ Assistance Programme, said shipping sources confirmed to him that the two fishing

COLLISION MASTER JAILED BY UK COURT
Maritime Global Net – Warren,RI,USA
At the time of the collision the Master of the Jork, Captain Zbigniew Krakowski, was on watch. The vessel began to list heavily and the crew abandoned the

Transportation Safety Board may not investigate lifeboat incident …
By Natalie Musseau and Corey Hurley
A month after the incident, confusion continues about exactly what happened aboard a Marine Atlantic lifeboat during a mock disaster.

Doctor puzzled by TSB probe of NL ferry disaster exercise gone wrong
The Canadian Press –
Twenty-one people were overcome by fumes and had to be taken to hospital during the training exercise, which involved a lifeboat from the Marine Atlantic

More fisherman wear life jackets
BBC News – UK
The lifeboat service said it hopes fishermen will heed the warning so it has more of a chance of picking up survivors rather than victims.

Back before the mast

If you’ve missed your regular diet of MAC, well, holiday’s over – a week in Puerto Galera, Mindoro, now it’s back before the mast and the lash. Listen out for the upcoming podcast The Case of the Lethal Lampshade, online in a day or two. If you’re going to LSM in Manila in mid-November drop me a line at mac@maritimeaccident.org, I’ll there and there will be a very important announcement about MAC made, time for a toast!