A chemical tanker has been successful in thwarting a pirate attack carried out by suspected Somali pirates.
What happened?
The chemical tanker ‘MT Leopard Sun’ was located nearly 160 nautical miles off the central coast of Somalia when it was attacked by Somali Pirates.
The vessel was en route from Sohar, Oman, to Cape Town, South Africa, at the time of the incident.
Security team thwart attack
The private armed security team (PAST) on-board a chemical tanker successfully repelled the attempted attack.
EU Navfor stated that two skiffs approached the 50,000t, Singapore-flagged tanker from the stern and fired upon the vessel during the attack. The vessel’s PAST team subsequently reciprocated by firing warning shots.
The incident lasted around 20 minutes and ended when the skiffs were forced to turn away, leaving MT Leopard Sun and its crew safe.
EU Navfor said in a statement, “The reporting of the incident to UKMTO / EU Navfor Maritime Security Centre – Horn of Africa (MSCHOA) was exemplary in both speed and detail, including the damage to the ship from gunfire from the skiffs. EU Navfor MSCHOA issued navigation warnings and alerts to inform both mariners and merchant vessels in the high-risk area, and the wider shipping industry of the attack. Merchant vessels in the proximity of the location where the incident took place have been warned directly of the existence of a potential pirate action group (PAG).”
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Source: Ship Technology.
