Maritime insecurity: Help reached Maersk Tema 15 hours after attack —Owners

Information released by Bernhard Schulte ship Management, one of the co-owners of the recently attacked container ship, Maersk Tema with IMO number 9698264 revealed that help came the way of the distressed vessel 15 hours after pirates boarded her at 200 nautical miles, South-West of Bonny, Nigeria, on February 14, 2020, while she was underway from Point Noir to Lagos. This is even as it added that the crew of Maersk Tema evaded being kidnapped by the pirates by staying inside the vessel citadel until help arrived.

The container vessel Maersk Tema, built in 2015, is owned and operated by the charter company, Peter Döhle Schiffart and Bernhard Schulte ship management.

According to information released on Twitter by Bernhard Schulte ship management, and obtained by the Nigerian Tribune, a Nigerian patrol ship SVS Teach with IMO number 9686534 reached Maersk Tema 15 hours after pirates boarded her while a Portuguese Navy ship arrived some hours later.

An earlier post by the vessel co-owner stated that, “At 1900UTC on February 15, 2020, Maersk Tema is still adrift after two pirates managed to board her. A Nigerian patrol ship SVS TEACH (IMO 9686534) is steaming towards Maersk Tema, and will approach her in probably 2-3 hours.”

Hours later, the vessel co-owner posted that, “at 0400UTC, also on February 15, 2020, Maersk Tema is still adrift, with Nigerian patrol ship SVS Teach (IMO 9686534) and Portugal Navy ship now at her side. No new information available yet. Nigerian patrol ship SVS Teach reached Maersk Tema in 15 hours after attack alert. Several hours later, she was joined by Portugal Navy ship. Several Nigerian security or patrol boats/ships were much closer to the distressed container ship, than SVS Teach, but they stuck to their assignments and didn’t respond.”

Danish shipping giant, Maersk, the charterer of the containership, confirmed the attack on social media accounts saying that the vessel was attacked by pirates when located 200 nautical miles west off Guinea.

“It is with relief that we have received confirmation, that the vessel, which was attacked by pirates on February is now cleared and all crew are safe and accounted for. We will continue to offer our full support to Peter Döhle Schiffart and Bernhard Schulte ship management,” Maersk released on Twitter.

It would be recalled that Dryad Global had stated that the attack of Maersk Tema is coming barely two months after a Bulk carrier; Vinalines Mighty was attacked and boarded by three pirates 40 nautical miles off Bonny on December 31, 2019.

This latest boarding is the 5th incident to occur within the Nigeria – Sao Tome Joint Development Zone since November 2019. It is assessed that after a brief hiatus, pirates have returned to an area that saw considerable success within 2019. Pirates operating within this area are assessed to be seeking to exploit the relative lack of established security presence in the waters beyond the Nigerian Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). It is assessed as highly likely that pirates operating within this area have originated from within Nigeria and are likely to do so with support from a larger vessel. The conduct of deep offshore pirate operations beyond the Nigerian Exclusive Economic Zone was a significant feature of West African piracy throughout 2019.”