Sfl-Ottawa

On Dec 24, 2019, the 'Istanul' was attacked by a single high speed skiff with nine armed men on board in position 01 deg 47N 004 deg 28E 180 miles SW of Brass. The tanker conducted evasive manoeuvres and after two attempts to board the pirates were seen to withdraw to a mothership. The crew and the tanker remained unharmed and were able to continue on their way. A probable pirate mother ship was underway in the Gulf of Guinea, immediately following the unsuccessful attack. Two speedboats have been spotted heading towards an orange/red-hulled chemical products tanker believed to be acting as the pirates’ mother vessel. It was thought that the tanker in question was the Nigerian-flagged chemical tanker 'Adeline Jumbo' (IMO: 9712424) which has been assessed as having been involved as a mother vessel in the attack and theft of cargo from the tanker 'Pantelena' 27 miles north-west of Port Libreville on Aug 18.