By Hauwa Ali
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An Italian Navy patrol ship, the COMMANDANTE BORSINI, have rendered assistance to crippled products tanker, the South Korean B OCEAN (IMO 9377834) which had been boarded by pirates, robbed and left stranded in the Gulf of Guinea.
According to reports, the pirates had boarded the tanker on 23 November 2022 and before leaving the vessel the following day, they damaged the tanker’s engine and its communication and navigation systems, leaving the ship to drift some 300 miles off the West African coast.
With communication lost the ship’s South Korean operators issued a request for help in finding the vessel.
The Italian corvette Commandante Borsini, which was on patrol in the area, was requested to go to the assistance of the tanker whilea call went out to other shipping in the area to report any sighting of the missing vessel.
According to the Italian Navy, the corvette found the tanker drifting about 300 nautical miles from the coast. Using the corvette’s helicopter, a team was sent on board to confirm the condition of the ship and her crew.
The crew of 19 were reported to be well and unharmed though severely traumatised. Before departing the pirates had robbed them of money and possessions including cellular phones, laptops, and other personal effects of the crew, making any contact with the outside world impossible. In addition the pirates took with them a portion of fuel from the tanker’s cargo.
Previously in January this year, the B Ocean had been victim of an attack by pirates in the Gulf of Guinea. On that occasion the pirates stole 977 tons of fuel before they departed the scene.
On this more recent occasion the pirates had caused significant damage to the tanker’s navigation equipment and to the ship’s engine room. An engineering team from the Italian corvette went on board to attempt repairs but at the same time a tug be despatched to tow the crippled tanker to a nearby port.
That port was Abidjan in the Ivory Coast where the tug and tow, escorted by the Italian corvette, safely arrived.
The tanker’s crew consisted of two South Koreans (master and chief engineer) and 17 Indonesians, all of whom were subjected to questioning about their ordeal before any arrangements could be made for their repatriation home.
