A piracy attack against a German-managed multipurpose vessel underway in the Indian Ocean on Thursday has been thwarted without any of its crew coming to serious harm.
The 17,800-dwt Basilisk (built 2013) has been “safely secured by attending naval forces”, the vessel’s German manager, Minmarine MPP Shipmanagement, said in a statement early on Friday.
All its 17 crew are “safe and accounted for,” Minmarine added. Merely one seafarer suffered a slight injury during the boarding but he has received medical care and is in good condition.
The assailants aborted their attack after seafarers took shelter in the ship’s citadel, with a European Union navy en route to assist.
As a result, none of the suspected Somali pirates was still on board when a warship from the EUNAVFOR Atalanta naval force intercepted the Basilisk on Thursday night.
“Forces went on board … using the fast-rope technique from [a] helicopter,” EUNAVFOR said in a statement.
TradeWinds reported yesterday that an EUNAVFOR Atalanta ship had been the first to respond to the Basilisk’s distress call after an unknown number of pirates approached the vessel on two small craft and boarded it.
The crew subsequently took shelter in the citadel.
The Basilisk crew largely consists of seafarers from countries in Eastern Europe and Asia.
The incident took place 420 nautical miles (780 km) southeast of Merca, Somalia.
The Basilisk, which is listed under the ownership of Switzerland-based Massoel Meridian, was en route from Porto Grande, Cape Verde, to Jebel Ali in the United Arab Emirates.
Somali piracy has resurged in recent months, coinciding with attacks by the Houthi rebels in nearby Yemen.
Several piracy attacks have been recorded since December, with the European Union expressing concerns that the reported payment of a $5m ransom to free a bulker recently, the 58,100-dwt Abdullah (built 2015), could embolden pirates.
Several pirates have been apprehended in the region, mostly by the Indian Navy but lately also by EU forces patrolling the area.
Earlier this month, an EUNAVFOR ship thwarted a piracy attack on the 75,000-dwt product tanker Chrystal Arctic (built 2010) in the same region and delivered its six Somali assailants to face trial in the Seychelles.
On Friday, however, EUNAVFOR did not make any statements about arresting any of the Basilisk’s assailants.
Pirates have been targeting merchant ships and small fishing boats. The fishing boats may be used later as mother ships for further attacks on larger vessels.
