2 Tankers Hijacked By Pirates - 5 Attempts

**admin** · March 26th, 2009, 02:23 PM

There have been 5 incidents over the last 24 hours.

Somali pirates hijacked a yacht with two people on board after it left the Seychelles in the Indian Ocean, the island nation's state broadcaster reported Wednesday (25 March). A government employee familiar with the case told The Associated Press that the vessel Serenity, with two crew from the Seychelles on board, disappeared after it left the islands Feb. 28 en route to Madagascar. The Seychelles government has contacted the British, French and American governments to ask for their assistance, It is unclear when the ship was seized.

The MT NIPAYIA was hijacked yesterday. There are 19 crew on board.

The MT BOW ASIR was hijacked 26 march, 0745Z in position 02 26' S - 048 11'E.

Yesterday at 0907Z, the MV EXPLORER III and the MV OCEAN EXPLORER reported that they were both being chased by two small boats. The EXPLORER III and the OCEAN EXPLORER increased speed, putting distance between them and the two small boats.

Yesterday at 2055Z, The MV FD GENNARO AURILIA reported a suspicious fishing boat approaching their vessel. The Master raised the alarm, increased speed and called for assistance from coalition warships. Fishing boat switched off its light and moved away.

**seamarshals** · March 26th, 2009, 04:18 PM

Great post. This goes along with the conversations we have had from January about the adaptation of piracy. There have even been two attacks in the Red Sea. Of course the wind factor has favored the East coast area, but more importantly, it is much easier to conduct their piracy activities without any coalition war ships in the area.

**john** · March 26th, 2009, 05:06 PM

Thanks... but I was (admittedly) less level headed when I wrote the full blog post on this:
Bow Asir & Nipayia - Pirates Find Success In Shift Back To Somalia’s East Coast

I hope you guys don't mind the fact I volunteered your expertise here on the forum!

**seamarshals** · March 26th, 2009, 05:19 PM

Not at all. As a matter of fact, due to the predictions we had made earlier this year, we had just added a route for protection between Oman area to Camoros two days prior to these last two hijackings. We only just added it due to the fact it takes a lot of planning and logistical organization to put it in place.