Monday, April 21, 2008
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau's (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre, told AFP that the attack, believed to be by Somali pirates, took place under the cover of darkness at 0230 GMT in the
"Pirates on five speed boats attacked the tanker, the size of a football field. It was a night raid. A missile-like rocket was launched at the ship. Initial reports said the ship suffered some damage," he said.
"I believe the Somali pirates could have used rocket-propelled grenades and machine gun fire on the tanker with the aim to board and possibly hijack her," Choong said.
"But the tanker increased speed and managed to prevent the pirates from boarding and taking control of the oil tanker," he added.
 |
|
Pirates have attacked an oil tanker off the Somali coast |
The IMB urged ships plying the
Choong declined further details of the tanker but said all the crew were safe.
The attack on the tanker comes just after a Spanish tuna fishing boat carrying a crew of 26 was seized on Sunday by pirates off the Somali coast.
And earlier this month, a luxury French cruise yacht with around 30 crew was hijacked off the coast of
The hostages were released when a ransom, believed to be around two million dollars (1.3 million euros), was paid.
Shortly after their release French special forces arrested six of the hostage-takers as they tried to escape in a 4x4 vehicle, having gone ashore after releasing the crew members.
The waters off
It recorded 49 incidents worldwide in the period, compared with 41 last year.