Efforts by the master and crew of a Knutsen OAS Shipping LNG carrier were successful in preventing a pirate boarding off Nigeria, a company executive said.
Hilmar Lund-Andersen, Knutsen vetting manager and company security officer, confirms to TradeWinds that shots were fired on the 176,000-cbm La Mancha Knutsen (built 2016) while it was approaching a pilot station some 100 nautical miles off the Nigerian coast on Friday.
During the attack, pirates attempted to use a ladder near the ship's manifold area.
Quick response
"Due to quick response from the captain and his crew, by use of various helm orders, the vessel avoided a successful attack," Lund-Andersen said.
TradeWinds reported Friday that the ship had been targeted by pirates.
Lund-Andersen says the Norwegian-flag La Mancha Knutsen was using best management practises identified for waters with piracy risk. The vessel reported its movements to Marine Domain Awareness for Trade – Gulf of Guinea and Norwegian war risks mutual Den Norske Krigsforsikring as required.
Navy informed
When the attack took place, the LNG carrier's master notified the Nigerian Navy, which was on scene after several hours and remained in close contact with the La Mancha Knutsen.
The vessel arrived safely at the Bonny LNG export terminal safely and departed Sunday with an armed escort. It is now on its way to Europe to discharge its cargo.
