Mt Smyrni News

Suspected pirate vessel off Angola. Dryad Maritime - a UK-based maritime intelligence firm - says situation has not changed since yesterday. Dryad Maritime is warning of the possible hijack of a Liberian flagged tanker MT Kerala. The vessel, owned by Dynacom Tankers, has been reported as missing off the coast of Angola, having last been sighted seven nautical miles NNW of Luanda. 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.

The Oman Drydock Company (ODC), one of the Middle East’s newest and biggest shipyards, is announcing its strongest year of trading. The shipyard undertook 75 drydockings and repairs in 2013 taking the total number to 190 since the yard which was opened in Duqm in Central Oman in 2011. ODC also saw staff numbers increase to more than 2,000 in 2013. The vessels ODC has worked on include Very Large Crude Carriers (VLCCs), crude oil tankers, container ships, LNG and LPG carriers, chemical carriers, bulk carriers, as well as dredgers, RO-ROs and barges.

Dryad Maritime, a U.K. commercial maritime intelligence company, welcomed the Japanese government’s plans to submit a bill to the National Diet which will permit the carriage of armed guards on Japanese-flagged vessels but advise that a number of other precautions must also be taken. The Japan Times last week reported on Japanese government plans to submit a bill to the National Diet that would permit armed guards to operate on Japanese ships given the view that their presence on other vessels in waters off Somalia has led to a sharp fall in piracy. Current Japanese law prohibits Japan-registered ships from carrying armed private citizens. If this proposed legislation is approved Japanese ships will be permitted to employ private security contractors to provide armed guards.