In a statement released Sunday the Greek shipowner said the crew of the 75,000-dwt Kerala (built 2009) was all safe.
However, it also disclosed that pirates had “stolen a large quantity of cargo by ship-to-ship (STS) transfer”.
Dynacom confirmed that the pirates had disembarked from the vessel and that it was “dealing with the incident in conjunction with the relevant authorities.”
In a statement on Monday Dynacom said one of its seafarers had been injured during the incident, but all of the crew were alive and accounted for.
Contact with the Liberian-flagged ship, which is on charter to Angolan state oil firm Sonangol, was confirmed lost on 18 January.
A source at Dynacom confirmed to TradeWinds last week that there was no security on board as the area was considered safe.
Suspicion surrounds the presence of a Nigerian tug in the area when the incident occurred, but sources are divided on what role it may have played.
Piracy exports warned that the tanker’s disappearance may represent a significant extension of maritime crime emanating from the Gulf of Guinea region, most probably from Nigerian criminal gangs.
“If confirmed as a hijack, this would be the furthest south that Nigerian-based criminals had struck,” said Dryad Maritime at the time of the ship’s disappearance.
Dynacom is no stranger to piracy. Its 157,000-dwt suezmax Smyrni remains the last ship hijacked by Somali pirates. It was released after a ransom payment.
