Somali pirates were foiled from hijacking a Dubai-based oil tanker over the weekend thanks to the brave actions of the captain, and the rescue efforts of the Australian navy, the ship’s operator revealed.

The pirate attack on the Dubai Princess took place on Sunday in the Gulf of Aden, which has become a hot-bed of pirate activity in the last six months.

The 250 metre, 115,485 tanker, was on its way to Sudan in a convoy when it was forced to accelerate to top speed and zig-zag through the water, to escape a pirate ship, which came within 15 metres of it, according to UAE daily The National.

The chase lasted more than an hour during which the Pakistani captain and his 24-strong crew were fired upon by submachine guns and rocket-propelled grenades.

An Australian naval frigate and helicopter support, which was acting as escort for the convoy, arrived in time to prevent a second attack from another pirate vessel, said Emarat Maritime the tanker’s operator.

“We are very relieved,” said Jitendra Misra, managing director of the firm, adding his praise for the ship’s captain Syed Naqvi and crew.

“Capt Naqvi has done an excellent job and pulled off some amazing manoeuvres,” said Misra.

The pirates were getting ever more clever, he added, explaining that they worked in teams of two, with one acting as a decoy for the rescuing warship, while the other took over the tanker.

“They follow a method where the first skiff attacks. A warship arrives to chase off the first skiff and meanwhile from the other side a second skiff takes the target,” Misra said.

The tanker which was sailing from Singapore to Sudan to pick up a cargo of oil was now heading for Port Sudan where the damage from the assault would be assessed, he added.

Pirate attacks worldwide almost doubled in the first quarter of the year, to 102, according to the International Maritime Bureau’s piracy reporting centre.

Source: Arabian Business

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