Aegean II shows up on fleet listing of Dubai headquarteredHanan Shipping [Image: Hanan Shipping]
Maritime protection expert Dryad Global states that reporting recommends that the Panama- flagged chemical vessel Aegean II IMO: 9016911 has actually been pirated off the Horn ofAfrica If real, this would certainly be the very first effective hijack in Somali waters because 2017.
Dryad states the vessel is thought to have actually been assaulted on the night (regional time) of the 16th August 2020, by 6 pirates, after having actually created mechanical problems.
According to the Equasis information base the 8,143 dwt 1994-built Aegean II is run by Dubai- based Hanan Shipping.
Dryad claim that the the vessel, which remained in transportation from the UAE to Mogadishu, is thought to have actually been assaulted throughout its transportation off the shore of the Horn of Africa, around 180 nm SW of Socotra.
“It is likely that the vessel slowed giving attackers ‘eyes on’ the vessel, and the ability to plan an opportunistic attack,” statesDryad “The vessel was indicating that armed guards were embarked however this is not believed to be the case.”
Dryad states that this “appears to be an isolated and opportunistic incident which seized on a vessel in a vulnerable situation,” which, though there stays a risk of piracy off the shore of Somalia which is qualified and also can show up as it carried out in this circumstances, contextually the hazard is significantly minimized on local highs in 2011.
“Further intelligence sources also suggest that this vessel may have been seized as an act of maritime crime (not piracy), in what could have been an act with a commercial narrative,” states Dryad.
