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THE WEEKLY PIRACY REPORT - REPORT SNIPPET - QUOTE:

http://www.icc-ccs.org/prc/piracyreport.php

Weekly Piracy Report
16-22 May 2007

The following is a summary of the daily reports broadcast by the IMB’s Piracy Reporting Centre to ships in Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Ocean Regions on the SafetyNET service of Inmarsat-C from 16 to 22 May 2007.

ALERT

Chittagong anchorage, Bangladesh
Forty seven incidents have been reported since 28.01.2006. Pirates are targeting ships preparing to anchor. Ships are advised to take extra precautions.

The 2006 Annual IMB Report on Piracy and Armed Attacks against Ships is now published. Please see the end of this page to order.

Suspicious crafts

18.04.2007: 2320 LT: Entrance Cartagena Colombia.
A container ship, while disembarking her pilot on the port side noticed, on radar, one unlit suspicious boat approaching from the stbd side at high speed. The master alerted the crew. The boat came very close to the vessel (about 10 m from the hull). On seeing the alert crew on ship’s side, the boat retreated and disappeared into the darkness. The master informed the Centre to alert other vessels calling Cartagena, Colombia.

Recently reported incidents

16.05.2007: 0125 LT: Fairway Buoy RACON ‘B’, Bonny River, Nigeria.
OOW onboard a tanker drifting off Bonny River noticed three boats on radar at a range of one mile. When the boats came within two cables from ship OOW informed master and alerted crew. The suspicious boat moved away when searchlights were directed towards it.

12.05.2007: Monrovia, Liberia.
About 25 pirates armed with machetes, in two fishing boats, boarded a refrigerated cargo ship at anchor that was awaiting repairs due to a fire onboard several days earlier. They assaulted the crewmembers, who received serious injuries and forced them to disembark. The pirates hijacked the ship and towed it to neighbouring Ivory Coast.

08.05.2007: 1800 LT: Corentyne River, Suriname.
Four pirates armed with guns boarded four fishing vessels. They assaulted all the crew and kidnapped a crewmember. Pirates stole fishing vessels property, cargo, crew personnel belongings and escaped. The rest of the crew were rescued on 10.05.2007 at 1500 lt.

08.05.2007: 2300 LT: 10 km Off Escravos, Delta State, Nigeria.
Forty pirates armed with guns in six boats attacked the vessel. Nigerian military personnel engaged the pirates in a gun battle, but the pirates managed to kidnap four crew. One crew and three naval personnel sustained injuries.

05.05.2007: Early morning Hrs: Off Nigeria Coast, Nigeria.
Pirates armed with guns boarded a platform rig at dawn. They kidnapped one crewmember and escaped. The pirates have made no demands.

01.05.2007: Penington River, Bayelsa State, Nigeria.
Pirates armed with weapons / explosives attacked an FPSO and kidnapped six crewmembers. Negotiations are underway for the safe release of the crew.

24.04.2007: 0245 LT: Posn 2.2 miles from Tema Port breakwater, Ghana.
Robbers armed with knives boarded a general cargo ship at anchor. They caught and tied up the duty AB and took his walkie talkie. The robbers stole ship’s stores from the forecastle store. The robbers escaped in the waiting boat. Duty AB released himself and raised alarm

19.04.2007: Evening Hrs: Delta Region, Nigerian.
Pirates armed with guns attacked a security vessel. They kidnapped three Nigerian crewmembers and stole weapons and equipment form the vessel. Six crew were injured.

06.04.2007: 0200 LT: Lagos, Nigeria.
Robbers boarded a tanker at berth. They broke open the paint store, and stole ship’s stores. Alarm raised and authorities informed. Master suspected robbers might have boarded with the assistance of the port watchman.

17.05.2007: 0530 LT at “B” Inner Anchorage, Mombassa, Kenya.
Ship’s crew onboard a container ship spotted a robber on the ship’s stern. Alarm raised and crew proceed aft to investigate. On seeing the crew, robber jumped overboard and escaped in a small boat waiting with two more persons. Robbers stole ship’s stores.

15.05.2007: 0840 UTC: Posn 01:10N - 049:00E, 210 NM from coast, Somalia.
While underway, five pirates armed with guns boarded and hijacked a fishing vessel. They sailed the vessel to a new location and moored in Posn: 04:30N - 048:10E. The 13-crew members are held hostage onboard.

15.05.2007: 0840 UTC: Posn 01:10N - 049:00E, 210 NM from coast, Somalia.
While underway, five pirates armed with guns boarded and hijacked a fishing vessel. They sailed the vessel to a new location and moored in Posn: 04:30n - 048:10e. The 11-crew members are held hostage onboard.

14.05.2007: 1530 LT: Posn 01:19.62N - 048:51.92E, 180 NM off Somalia.
Pirates, armed with machine guns and rocket launchers, approached a general cargo ship underway from her port quarter. The pirates ordered the ship to stop and started firing towards the bridge. D/O raised alarm, SSAS alarm activated, master took evasive manoeuvres, and fired rocket parachute signals on the boat when he saw the pirates preparing to fire rocket propelled grenades. The ship was hit and the accommodation caught fire and was extensively damaged. The crew extinguished the fire and took preventive measures to stop the fire from spreading. The master continuously maneuvered the vessel to prevent the pirates from boarding. The attack lasted for one hour before the pirates aborted the attack. No injuries to crew. PRC relayed message to coalition navy for assistance.

09.05.2007: 1800 LT: Posn 07:47N - 120:21E, Philippines.
15-armed pirates with masked faces approached a tug towing a barge underway, in a speedboat. The speedboat closed to a distance of 150 meters from the tug but stopped when it encountered engine problems. The tug used this opportunity to escape from the attempted pirate attack / hijacking. The master reported that the area was active for Abu Sayyaf rebel’s activities

08.05.2007: 1343 LT: Posn 10:15.6N - 107:04.9E, Vung Tau anchorage, Ho Chi Minh Port, Vietnam.
Five robbers boarded a container ship via the anchor chain and broke open the forecastle store. They were spotted by crew and alarm raised. Robbers managed to steal ship’s stores and escaped via anchor chain in a waiting boat. Port informed. No response.

07.01.2007: 2145 LT: Posn 02:59.1S - 104:05.2E, Pertamina Jetty 4, Plaju, Indonesia.
Three robbers in a motorboat boarded a LPG tanker, which was berthed. They were noticed by the duty AB and the general alarm was raised. They entered the engine room, held third Engr as hostage, stole ship’s properties, and escaped. No injuries to crew. Incident reported to the agent.