Gulf of Guinea Product Tanker Attack a "Game Changer"

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday August 11, 2014

An August 9 attack on a product tanker in the Gulf of Guinea could be a game changer, representing a step change in tactics used by pirates in the region, Dryad Maritime warns.

Shots were fired during the attack which was ultimately repelled, but the fact that it took place some 200 nautical miles south of the Nigerian shoreline is unusual and represents tactics more commonly associated with Somali pirates.

"Unlike a stealthy climb on to a vessel at anchor, boarding a vessel underway is a very different proposition, especially at night in open seas. This is something that even highly motivated Somali pirates have only attempted on a small number of occasions during the hours of darkness," said Ian Millen, Chief Operating Officer of Dryad Maritime.

"In such a situation, the most likely chance of success lies in encouraging the master to heave to by attacking the vessel with gunfire, as getting into an undetected stern chase with the prospect of boarding a vessel underway at 14 knots is something that only the best of special forces would entertain in darkness."

Earlier this year, $8 million in diesel was stolen from oil tanker MT Kerala after it disappeared off the Luanda coast, and Dryad Maritime said this latest event was "equally shocking."

"A pirate group appears to have targeted a vessel underway, perhaps specifically or by type, at a range hitherto unseen in open ocean by a group involved in an audacious night-time attack," Millen said.

"Unlike in the Indian Ocean, we are not likely to see the report to authorities from the victim vessel result in the despatch of maritime patrol aircraft or helicopter-enabled warships to interdict the criminals and bring them to justice.

"Instead we will just need to arm ourselves with the fact that this took place and use that knowledge to ensure that ships are well prepared and alive to the prospect of an attack at such distances offshore in the Gulf of Guinea."