Pirates board Q-Flex in South China Sea
A Q-Flex LNG carrier wasone of several vessels to be boarded during a spate of recent piracy attacks in the South China Sea. Singapore's Regional Co-operation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against Ships in Asia (ReCAAP) Information Sharing Centre said the 210,100-cbm Umm Al Amad (built 2008) was boarded on 21 August by men operating from a small boat.
The vessel, which is controlled by K-Line under the J5's partnership with Qatar's Nakilat, was sailing in the recommended shipping lanes off the Natuna Islands. Electronic data show the ship was enroute to Incheon in South Korea with a cargo.
ReCAAP deputy director Nicholas Teo said Umm Al Amad is the first LNG carrier to be hit in this area. He said the primary motive appears to have been robbery.
There has been a series of similar attacks in the area over the past few weeks on vessels sailing anything from 20 to 50 nautical miles out at sea, suggesting the small boats are operating from a mother ship, he explained.
Teo said ReCAAP has put out an incident alert to shipping companies asking them to watch out for small boats approaching in the night from the stern.
"We are advocating that they pay all round vigilance," he said, "since in incidents where the small boats were detected and either had light or water played on them they (the pirates) have given up."
Fuente: lng unlimited
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