Pirates attack three oil tankers offshore Nigeria and Indonesia

Pirates attack three oil tankers offshore Nigeria and Indonesia

Bloomberg, London

Three oil tankers offshore Indonesia and Nigeria were among
five ships targeted by pirates last week, extending the worst
year of violence on the seas in more than a decade, the
International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said.

"The attacks on tankers are happening almost every week, which
is very worrying," said Pottengal Mukundan, the IMB's deputy
director, in a telephone interview in London. "The fact that
these vessels that are being targeted are carrying hazardous
cargoes poses environmental risks."

Incidents worldwide surged 27 percent to 344 in the year's
first nine months, the highest since 1991, the agency has
reported. Two tankers were among six vessels struck during the
previous week, which ended Nov. 17, said the IMB, a part of the
International Chamber of Commerce.

Three pirates held a crewmember hostage after boarding a
tanker near one of Indonesia's main oil ports, Balikpapan in
eastern Borneo, on Nov. 24. The crew was held at gunpoint while
attackers stole the vessel's property before escaping.

Five days earlier, an oil tanker was attacked to the east of
Singapore, the piracy center said. About seven people boarded the
tanker and stole its cash. A third tanker was targeted on Nov. 22
at Lagos, Nigeria's largest city, which handles the nation's oil-
product imports. The names of the tankers aren't reported, the
group said.

Oil tankers have been hijacked in the past whereby the pirates
sold the cargo and later renamed the ship, said IMB's Mukundan.
"It's up to the coastal states to make sure that their waters are
safe," he said.

The other two ships attacked were bulk and refrigerated
carriers, or so-called reefers, which were attacked off
Bangladesh and South Africa, the piracy center said.