A Frontline tanker was attacked in the Indian Ocean on a busy but unsuccessful morning for pirates which also say German and Danish vessels assaulted.
The 149,700-dwt Front Pride (built 1993) was set upon at around 11:00 local time in the middle of the Indian Ocean some 200 or 300 hundred miles east of Socotra, an informed source told TradeWinds.
Pirates in two skiffs opened fire on the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel which is understood not to have had an embarked security team. However, another informed source told TradeWinds that, when pirates tried to hook a ladder onto the ship, five crew members repelled the attempt from the deck.
The master increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres which also contributed towards the aborted hijacking bid.
TradeWinds was told the crew numbers 29 and is comprised of Russians, Filipinos, Poles and Malaysians. A statement issued later on behalf of Frontline Management indicated there were 24 crew members from Russia and Philippines. Although there are 24 crew there is also a riding crew of three Poles.
The bridge is said to have sustained some damage from the assault. Four crew members sustained minor cuts and abrasions but require no further medical attention, the Frontline statement read. The ship was in ballast from Singapore to Yemen at the time of the attack.
The Front Pride is beneficially owned by John Fredriksen’s Ship Finance International but is in related company Frontline’s fleet.
Frontline has a good record in its brushes with Somali pirates: in three known incidents involving its ships there have been no hijackings.
Pirates did manage to clamber onboard the 150,000-dwt suezmax Front Alfa (built 1993) in the Gulf of Aden in late November but crew hid in a citadel and a hijacking was averted.
In January rocket-propelled grenades were launched at the 153,400-dwt Front Warrior (built 1998) in the Arabian Sea but it escaped after the master increased speed and took evasive manoeuvres.
Not far from the attack site the German-owned 38,300-dwt chemical tanker Voge Dignity(built 2009) was also set upon by pirates but also managed to escape thanks to the use of an armed security team onboard.
A spokesperson for Vogemann said there was a gunfight lasting some five minutes between the pirates and the security team before the attack ended. Some 40 bullets were fired but the ship sustained no damage with no injuries to the crew, said to number around 22.
The Liberia-flagged vessel is owned by Vogemann Holdings of Hamburg and managed in house.
Earlier in the morning the Danish heavy-lift vessel Brattingsborg (built 2010) came under attack from pirates but avoided capture. The Singapore-flagged ship is listed as owned by Nordana Line.
