Hijacked Tanker; ‘Success 9’ found in Gulf of Guinea, 20 Crew Safe
Singapore-registered tanker Success 9 that was boarded by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea has now been found with the 20 Crew safe.
The tanker was hijacked mid-day local time on Monday, April 10 approximately 300 nautical miles south of Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire.
The Tanker was located on Apr 14 or 15, reportedly 65 nm SE of Abijan, Ivory Coast, and was taken to Abijan same day.
All 20 crew are safe, no kidnappings. Tanker was loaded with unspecified oil product, the main and only aim of hijack, as it came out.
The Cargo (part of it most probably) was siphoned. So for some 4-5 days tanker was moving around in waters with rather intense traffic, near coastal States inner waters, with ongoing full-scale search operation, and remained unnoticed.
The Information Fusion Centre (IFC) and the Monrovia Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre (MRCC), which had been coordinating the international search effort, were informed. A Cote d’Ivoire navy patrol vessel was dispatched and reached the Success 9. The Ivorian team boarded the ship confirming the safety of the crew and arranged for the vessel to proceed to Abidjan. The Success 9, built in 2003, is a 6,135 dwt product tanker owned by HS Ocean of Singapore.
South Korea’s foreign ministry provided additional details according to a report from the Korean news agency Yonhap saying that the ministry had been in contact with its citizen who was among the 20 crewmembers. They said the pirates abandoned the tanker after stealing cargo and the crew’s personal belongings. All the crewmembers have been accounted for and were unharmed