In another pirate incident, a Panamanian-flagged Product Tanker Eliana and Nigerian PSV Kendrick were both attacked off the Bayelsa coast off Nigeria, believed to be the same group, some 60-70 nautical miles from shore.
The tanker Eliana was en route to Lagos, having set sail from Port Harcourt, while PSV Kendrick was heading for shore after visiting an oil field in the Gulf.
It was reported that both the vessels successfully managed to thwart the attacks and continued their journey.
The vessel was approached by speed boat with armed men onboard, the crew maneuvered the vessel to avoid the pirates from boarding the ship. The pirates reportedly opened fire on the vessel and the vessel was slightly damaged from the attack. The security personnel onboard responded by opening fire on the pirates and even succeeded to kill one pirate. But the pirates managed to take control of the ship and locked the crew in the citadel.
The pirates reportedly stole valuables and damaged the communication and navigation equipment before alighting from the vessel.
All the crew were safe and suffered no injuries. The ship proceeded to Lagos, where it is docked for further repairs.
The incident was reported to the Nigerian navy and the local authorities.
This latest episode marks an escalation in piracy activity off the Nigerian coast, with a Maersk container ship coming under attack earlier in November.
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Source: Commercial Crime Services
One thing that I have wondered about since piracy became an issue is why we aren’t using an effective tool from WWII the convoy. While th US connot mandate convoy use, if we made them available on scheduled runs to escort merchant ships to and from each port, I would imagine the insurance companies would provide the push to get the ships, they insure, to use them.
Whenever a ship(s) left the convoy, one of the naval ships in the convoy could escourt it to provide security until the ship(s) was safely in port and then speed up and rejoin the convoy.