The ship, with a crew of 32, was en route from Southeast Asia to the Suez Canal with a $10M cargo of biodiesel and other grades of palm oil worth $14M. It sailed towards Point Bravo of the Internationally Recognised Transit Corridor (Gulf of Aden) through the Indian Ocean, where it had to rendezvous with a Japanese convoy.
The Japanese convoy arrived, but the ship’s master gave the order to keep sailing after he saw a fishing boat pass at 7nm, with visibility of just 6nm.
“There were six pirates on board. They were too fast and too violent,“ he said. “I tried to manoeuvre to escape the attack. I called UKMTO [UK Maritime Trade Operations], but was told that they could not help because there were no warships in that area.”
The ship has a very low freeboard of only 3m. One pirate boarded the ship. Strong manoeuvring pushed away the skiff, with the others aboard. The boarded pirate emptied his gun, shooting at the bridge; but could not get beyond the main deck because the accommodation access was locked. Then the pirates in the skiff fired rocket-propelled grenades. While the ship tried to increase speed, an engine fault caused it to slow, allowing the other pirates to board from the poop deck near the propeller side.
The captain contacted UKMTO again, but was told he was too far from the Gulf of Aden for help to get to him. The first pirate broke a window of the bridge – all accommodation doors were closed in accordance with best management practice – and used it to enter. “In that moment I had to submit and made sure to gather all the crew.” The first words of the pirates to the captain and crew were: “Piracy. Only money. Company.“
During four months and one week the ship was used twice as a mother ship in attempted hijackings of other vessels transiting the Indian Ocean: the pirates succeeded in capturing one vessel. The captain and some other crew members were coerced to get involved in the hijacking bids under threat and what the master described as constant humiliation. “In four months we came across many warships in the Indian Ocean. The pirates started to suspect I betrayed them. They tied me up for three days. I was insulted, beaten up and humiliated. I was not allowed to sleep in my cabin. I had to sleep in the same room [the bridge] as all the crew.” The crew suffered worse treatment when warships approached. “They were pushed into a corner with a gun at their heads. Most of the time the crew didn’t know what was happening. “I had all the responsibility of the ship and all the pressure. My priorities were to keep the crew alive and the cargo hidden.” The pirates could not find out there was a $10M cargo of biodiesel. “When we met some naval forces they told the pirates to sail towards Somalia, but when those forces disappeared over the horizon we went back to mothership operations.” The only time the captain found some rest was when the ship arrived in Somalia.
Since the release of his ship earlier this year, the captain told Fairplay no-one from the company had contacted him. “I worked 11 years for them. I was really involved in the work of the company. I assisted in the implementation the ISM, ship security assessments and anti-piracy plans. One day I decided to talk to the company fleet manager. He heard the story and told me I should be glad to be alive. I don’t want any money, just recognition for risking my own life and for keeping the crew and cargo safe.” When he spoke to Fairplay he was still waiting for the company to get in touch to tell him if he still had a job.