A Singapore-registered oil tanker was hijacked by “unidentified persons” off Ivory Coast, with one Singaporean crew member reportedly being on board the captured vessel.
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said in a press release that they are currently monitoring the situation.
The MPA said in a statement released earlier today (12 April) that a Singapore-registered oil tanker, SUCCESS 9, was boarded by “unidentified persons” about 300 nautical miles (or about 555.6km) off Ivory Coast in West Africa.
The hijackers boarded the oil tanker on 10 April at about 10 pm, with about 20 crew members of various nationalities on board at the time, including one Singaporean.
The Maritime Executive described the incident as the work of pirates, and they cited a piracy attack security incident report by Praesidium International, which found that the tanker had slowed down and was likely to have been drifting at the time when the pirates hijacked the ship.
The ship then subsequently lost its automatic identification system (AIS), which is a tracking system on ships, at the same time of the hijacking.
The pirates had likely hijacked the vessel in order to steal oil.
The MPA said that they received a report about the hijacking incident and are working with the owner of the ship and the Monrovia Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre, as well as the Information Fusion Centre at the Changi Command and Control Centre to monitor the situation.
They will also provide the necessary assistance required to the hijacked vessel.
MPA’s statement
The Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) received a report that a Singapore-registered oil tanker, SUCCESS 9, was boarded by unidentified persons at about 300 nautical miles off the Abidjan Coast, Cote d’lvoire on 10 April 2023 at about 10 pm (Singapore time). There are 20 crew of various nationalities onboard the vessel, of which one of them is a Singapore citizen.
MPA is working closely with the ship owner, Monrovia Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and the Information Fusion Centre at the Changi Command and Control Centre to monitor the situation and render the necessary assistance.
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