Five Piracy Attempts over the Weekend

As Reported by the ICC

Incident Details:	View
24.04.2010: Boma anchorage, Democratic Republic of Congo. Robbers boarded the tanker at anchor. They stole ship’s property and escaped unnoticed.	View
25.04.2010: 0515 UTC: Posn: 13:46.2N – 042:57.7E, Red Sea. Pirate boats chased and attempted to board a bulk carrier underway. Master increased speed and carried out evasive manoeuvres. After about 80 minutes, pirates aborted the attempt and moved away. No casualties and no damage to ship.	View
25.04.2010: 0523 UTC: Posn: 13:48N – 043:00E, Bab el Mandeb, southern Red Sea. Two skiffs were sighted at a distance of one nm from a chemical tanker underway. Suddenly, one skiff with high speed approached and came very close to the tanker. Four pirates armed with guns and an aluminium ladder was seen in the skiffs. Security personal onboard fired several warning shots in the air but the pirates kept approaching. Finally the security personal fired closed to the skiffs and the pirates aborted the attempted attack.	View
25.04.2010: 0348 UTC: Posn: 17:59n – 065:49e, around 760 nm from Socotra island (Arabian Sea), off Somalia. Six pirates armed with machine guns and RPG in a white coloured skiff chased and fired upon a chemical tanker underway with intent to hijack. Tanker contacted coalition forces, increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. Pirates attempted to board the tanker several times but unable due to the evasive manoeuvres and finally they aborted the attempt. No injuries to crew.	View
25.04.2010: 0215 UTC: Posn: 18:06N – 065:47E, around 760 nm from Socotra island (Arabian Sea), off Somalia. Four pirates armed with machine guns and RPG in a white coloured skiff chased and fired upon a tanker underway with intent to hijack. Ship raised alarm, sent distress message, increased speed, took evasive manoeuvres and crew locked all accommodation doors. Pirates tried to board the ship using a steel ladder and hooks attached to ropes. They fired RPG at the accommodation and the ship continued with her evasive manoeuvres. After several attempts, finally pirates aborted the attempted boarding. No injuries to crew.	View
23.04.2010: 0640 LT: Posn: 14:48N – 065:18E, around 1395nm NE of Mogadishu (Indian Ocean), off Somalia. Five pirates in a skiff armed with RPG and guns chased and fired upon a chemical tanker underway. Master made evasive manoeuvres and contacted coalition forces for assistance. Ship raised alarm, increased speed, activated SSAS, sent DSC distress, and commenced evasive manoeuvres. The pirates chased the vessel for more than one hour and then aborted the attempted attack. No injuries crew. No damage to ship.	View
22.04.2010: 0300 LT: Posn: 01:19.8N – 104:16.1E, Eastern OPL anchorage, Malaysia. Three robbers on a boat attempted to boarded a chemical tanker at anchor. Duty watchman on deck sighted the pirates. Robbers aborted the attempt when the vessel raised alarm and ship’s horn. No casualties to crew and ship.	View
19.04.2010: 2100 UTC: Posn: 00:50S – 051:30E, Around 400 nm ESE of Mogadishu, off Somalia. During the night a mother vessel and two skiffs fired upon a warship which they mistook for a merchant vessel. The warship fired warning shots and chased the pirates. The skiffs were seized and pirates detained.	View
21.04.2010: 0308 LT: Posn: 10:13.7N – 107:05.0E, Vung Tau anchorage, Vietnam. Pirates armed with guns boarded an anchored tanker. Duty watchman from bridge deck sighted the pirates. The vessel raised alarm and ship’s horn. Pirates escaped with ship’s stores. Port authority informed.	View
21.04.2010: 1050 UTC: Posn: 01:10N – 065:00E, 1170 nm east of Mogadishu, Somalia. Four pirates armed with RPG and automatic weapons in a skiff chased and fired upon a bulk carrier underway with intent to hijack. Ship raised alarm, contacted coalition forces, increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres. A coalition warship responded and sent a helicopter to the location. Pirates stopped chasing the ship and aborted the attempted attack. No injuries to crew. Some damage to ship due to gun fire.	View
21.04.2010: 0605 UTC: Posn: 16:25N – 057:13E: 170 nm SE of Khuriya Muriya Islands, (Oman), Off Somalia. Pirates in skiffs opened fire, boarded and hijacked a bulk carrier underway. They took the 21 crewmembers as hostage.	View
19.04.2010: 2228 UTC: Posn: 04:32N – 104:29E: South China Sea. Owner reported to the IMB-PRC that tug and barge were hijacked and deviated from the original route to Thailand. The Centre notified the authorities in Malaysia and Indonesia. The Malaysian authorities/MMEA dispatched a maritime aircraft and a patrol boat. The aircraft reported sighting of the tug and barge and pirates casting-off the barge. A Malaysian Maritime patrol boat located the barge and handed it over to the Owners. Owners arranged another tug to tow the barge to Thailand. The Malaysian and Indonesian authorities continued to search for the tug. Later the pirates left the tug and the crew then continued to sail the tug to Singapore. A Singapore Naval ship spotted the tug and escorted her.	View
20.04.2010: 0345 LT: Tanjung Priok anchorage: Indonesia. Four robbers armed with long knives boarded an anchored general cargo ship. Duty AB returning after rounds to the forecastle deck saw one robber coming out from port side entrance and immediately informed OOW who raised the. Robbers escaped with ship’s equipment.	View
18.04.2010: 0200 UTC: Posn: 09:29N – 069:18E: 230 nm WNW of Minicoy Island (Indian Ocean), Off Somalia. Armed pirates in skiffs opened fire on a fishing vessel underway and ordered her to stop. Pirates boarded and hijacked the vessel and took her 26 crew members hostage. Vessel currently heading towards Somalia.	View
18.04.2010: 0200 UTC: Posn: 09:29N – 069:18E: 230 nm WNW of Minicoy Island (Indian Ocean), Off Somalia. Armed pirates in skiffs opened fire on a fishing vessel underway and ordered her to stop. Pirates boarded and hijacked the vessel and took her 25 crew members hostage. Vessel currently heading towards Somalia.	View
18.04.2010: 0200 UTC: Posn: 09:29N – 069:18E: 230 nm WNW of Minicoy Island (Indian Ocean), Off Somalia. Armed pirates in skiffs opened fire on a fishing vessel underway and ordered her to stop. Pirates boarded and hijacked the vessel and took her 26 crew members hostage. Vessel currently heading towards Somalia.	View
16.04.2010: 2000 UTC: Posn: 01:18.42N – 104:12.7E: 1.4nm south of TG. Ayam: Malaysia. Six robbers boarded an anchored tanker via the poop deck. OOW spotted them and raised the alarm. Crew mustered. Robbers escaped in their boat. An investigation was conducted and no robbers were found. Nothing was stolen.	View
14.04.2010: 2345 UTC: Posn: 12:42N – 047:23E: Gulf of Aden. Around seven pirates armed with RPG and guns chased and fired upon a general cargo ship underway. Master made evasive manoeuvres and contacted warship for assistance. Due to evasive manoeuvres ship escaped the attack. A coalition warship intercepted the pirate skiff. Ship sustained damages from machine gun and RPG fire.	View
17.04.2010: 1055 LT: Posn: 04:02.3N – 099:45E, Malacca Straits. One fishing boat with few persons onboard came very close to tanker drifting. Master suspected the persons intend to board the ship. Master sounded alarm, took anti piracy measures and commenced spraying water from the standby fire hoses. The boat stayed close to the vessel for sometime and then moved away.	View
18.04.2010: 0725 UTC: Posn: 09:29N – 068:56E, 260nm west of Minicoy Islands, (Indian Ocean), Off Somalia. Four pirates in a skiff armed with RPG fired upon a tanker underway with intent to hijack. Ship activated anti-piracy measures. The ship had a team of four security personal onboard. Pirates stopped firing and aborted the attempted boarding. No casualties to crew and ship. Tanker continued her passage.	View