Pirates attack product tanker

Pirates/robbers attack drifting product tanker. 

Pirates attack product tanker off Ivory Coast

(Reuters) – Armed pirates robbed an petroleum products tanker near Ivory Coast’s port of Abidjan, a maritime agency and a private security advisor said on Wednesday, in an indication of the increasing mobility of Nigeria-based gangs.

The raid on the tanker came just a day after two failed pirate attacks that occurred just hours apart in waters off Nigeria’s southeastern coast, according to the same sources.

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Source: uk.reuters.com

MSR Comment:
An interesting incident that has all the hallmarks of an organised pirate attack. The distance from shore (around 46nm), the number of ‘robbers’ involved and the fact that the ship was a tanker all point to an attempted hijacking. The destruction of equipment prior to the pirates’ escape is also typical of their MO. In this case, however, the gang simply robbed the crew rather than taking the ship, so we wonder if the cargo had already been offloaded or even if it wasn’t carrying the right type of cargo for re-sale by the pirates’ masters. Hopefully, a full investigation will further enlighten us.