Pirates attack ships in Vietnam, India and Tanzania
By John Chadwell:
From all the news about Somali pirates it might surprise some people that piracy is on the increase again and they are operating beyond the African coast.
According to the International Chamber of Commerce’s weekly piracy report, pirates boarded a tanker in the Vung Tau Song Go Gia anchorage, Vietnam, April 21. They broke open the forward storeroom and stole ship’s stores. The duty crew spotted the robbers and raised the alarm and the pirates escaped. None of the crew were injured.
On April 22, off Tanzania, eight pirates armed with knives boarded a container ship at anchor. Before the watch keepers could contact and warn the bridge the robbers tied them up. The alarm was raised only when the chief officer could not contact the watch keepers. By then the pirates had stolen contents from several containers. They escaped when the alarm was raised.
Pirates are not only interested in cargo ships and fishing vessels. On April 22, off Mumbia, India, four robbers in a motor boat attempted to board a research vessel at anchor.