On Monday (10 Apr), news broke that a Singapore-flagged tanker was boarded by “unidentified persons” suspected to be pirates about 555.6km off the Ivory Coast in West Africa.
The tanker became uncontactable from about 10.25pm, after the ship lost automatic identification system (AIS) transmission.
In a new statement on Thursday (13 Apr), the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) revealed that the vessel is still uncontactable.
The Ivory Coast authorities are currently assisting with the search for the ship.
Shipping news service TradeWinds reported that Hai Soon Diesel & Trading, the owner of the ship, said on Tuesday (11 Apr) they were “closely monitoring the situation and trying to reestablish contact with the vessel”.
Source: Hai Soon Group
The ship lost contact as its AIS transmission got cut off at around 10.25pm on Monday.
Unfortunately, it seems like the group’s efforts have come to nought.
MPA shared in its statement that the owner of Success 9 was “still unable to establish communications with the vessel”.
It has already been four days since the ship first lost contact.
In the statement, MPA also shared that it has reached out to the Monrovia Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre and other authorities in the region for assistance.
Ivory Coast authorities have since began assisting with efforts to locate the ship. They have deployed air and sea assets to the vicinity of the vessel’s last known position.
Source: Lloyd’s List
TradeWinds also reported that the piracy reporting group Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade — Gulf of Guinea (MDAT-GoG) asked other ships in the Gulf of Guinea to “report any sighting of the vessel or suspicious activity”.
MDAT-GoG described the Success 9 as a “black-hulled tanker with a white superstructure, white funnel with blue stripes”.
It is unfortunate that the vessel is still unreachable despite efforts across the past four days.
We can only hope that the crew members aboard the ship will hold up well until they are out of harm’s way.
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Featured image adapted from Hai Soon Group.
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