Maltese-flagged tanker Hellas Aphrodite has been attacked and boarded around 550 nm off the Somali coast, according to maritime security company Vanguard.
The attack has been confirmed by manager Latsco Marine Management, which said the attack happened at 1148 hours local time on November 6, while the vessel was carrying a cargo of gasoline from Sikka, India, to Durban, South Africa.
“All 24 crew are safe and accounted for, and we remain in close contact with them”, said Latsco.
According to a UKMTO warning, the 49,992 dwt product tanker’s master reported being approached by a single small craft on its stern.
The small craft opened fire with small arms and RPGs before “unauthorised personnel” from the craft boarded the tanker.
Vanguard identified the vessel as Hellas Aphrodite and said the Iran-flagged fishing vessel 314055ISSAMOHAHMDI was likely the mothership used in this attack and three other recent incidents.
The attack is the second by Somali pirates this week after four pirates on a skiff opened fire on chemical tanker Stolt Sagaland in the early hours of November 3.
In that incident, the attempted boarding failed. A threat bulletin from Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) and European Union Naval Force (EUNAVFOR) ATALANTA said the Stolt Sagaland indicated pirate action group (PAG) activity, and that it was highly likely that a dhow named Issamohamadi was used.
A spate of hijackings of dhows by Somali nationals this year signalled a potential escalation of the simmering threat to international shipping from Somali pirates.
Dhows are used by Somali pirates as mother ships for smaller skiffs, extending the effective range of hijacking attempts to hundreds of nautical miles from the coast.
At its peak from 2008-2011, Somali piracy was a scourge on the shipping industry which sparked co-ordinated international military and regulatory responses.
Hundreds of attacks on vessels led to hundreds of successful hijackings, often leading to crews being held for ransom in appalling conditions ashore.
