S'pore ship boarded by pirates found, crew 'safe & in good health'

MPA had been coordinating with the ship owner and multinational agencies to search for the ship.

Andrew Koay | April 16, 2023, 03:59 PM

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A Singapore-registered ship, which had been boarded by pirates just under a week ago, has been found in waters nearby the Ivory Coast on Apr. 15 at around 5pm Singapore time.

All the crew of the Success 9, including one Singaporean, were "safe and in good health" said the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) in an Apr. 16 statement.

MPA had been coordinating with the ship owner and multinational agencies to search for the ship.

"These multinational agencies included the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea, together with the regional security forces, the French navy, coast guards and maritime administrations from Côte d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierra Leone and Nigeria," said MPA.

Nearby and passing commercial ships were also roped in to search for the missing vessel.

As it was, a commercial ship, Monjasa Sprinter, had been the one to pick up the Success 9's distress call before reporting the latter's location. An Ivory Coast Navy patrol vessel was deployed to confirm and board the Success 9.

A "hotspot" for piracy

The Success 9, an oil tanker, was boarded by unidentified persons at about 300 nautical miles (555km) off the Abidjan Coast, Ivory Coast at 10pm on Apr. 10.

The Gulf of Guniea — which the Ivory Coast sits on — is a crucial shipping zone in the world, notably for oil and gas and transit of goods between Europe and Asia.

However, it has also been described as a “hotspot” for piracy.

According to the Security Council Report in November 2022, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said more than 40 per cent of reported piracy incidents happened in the area out of the 195 reportedly globally.

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Top image via Hai Soon Group and MDAT-GoG