A group of armed pirates in fast boat succeeded to board heavy lift vessel Teal at Conakry Anchorage in Gulf of Guinea. The pirates, who were armed with machine guns and knives, boarded the ship during the night.
Two people from the crew were taken as hostages. The pirates opened fire to the accommodation and threatened the seamen on board. Some of the crew were slightly hurt, but without life threatening injuries. The pirates robbed the vessel and crew, taking all their personal belongings, values, technologies and money. After the successful robbery the armed men abandoned the ship and fled to the shore.
During the piracy attack, the Master tried to contact the port authorities, but did not received an answer. Just later the crew succeeded to report about the piracy robbery. After an hour a security boat came to the location. All the crew were in good health and no need medical intervention.
The heavy lift vessel Teal (IMO: 8113566) has overall length of 181.00 m, moulded beam of 32.00 m and maximum draft of 9.99 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 32,101 DWT and the gross tonnage is 22,835 GRT. The ship was built in 1984 by Samsung Shipbuilding and Heavy Industries in their shipyard in Geoje, South Korea. The owner and operator of the heavy lift vessel Teal is Chinese company Anglo Eastern Shipmanagement.
Source: maritimeherald.com