A two-month ordeal for the crew and owners of a hijacked tanker ship, whose cargo included naphthenic base oils bound for India from the U.S. Gulf Coast, ended last week when its Somali captors released the ship and crew.
Stolt-Nielsen S.A. on Nov. 17 confirmed that its M/T Stolt Valor cargo ship was released Nov. 16 by its Somali hijackers, who took control of the ship two months ago. All crew members were unharmed. The ships cargo included 4,000 metric tons of naphthenic base oils that originated from the U.S. Gulf Coast, destined for India, a shipping industry source told Lube Report.
In terms of base oils, the impact is that the cargo was fixed at a time when oil prices were near their peak, according to the source. Those markets will be much different when the Stolt Valor arrives at Mumbai for discharge, this source told Lube Report. The overall impact on the local market is negligible considering 4,000 tons is just such a small part of the market.
Somali pirates seized the M/T Stolt Valor, which is on time-charter from Japanese owners to Stolt Tankers B.V., in the Gulf of Aden off the east coast of Africa on Sept. 15. A long term time-charter is similar to a long term leasing arrangement.
Since then the owners had worked continuously with assistance of authorities and professional negotiators to secure the release of the vessel and crew. CNN-IBN, CNNs sister network in India, reported that the Valor and its crew of 22 were released after the Japanese firm that owns the ship paid a $2.5 million ransom.
The shipping industry source said Stolt is looking at each voyage that transits the India Ocean Region on a case by case basis, based on its managements directive. Its easier to route ships via the Cape [of Good Hope] rather than Suez [Canal] for some voyages, than it is for others. The route change to go around the southern tip of Africa can add weeks to ship voyages.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, Somali pirates are firing automatic weapons and rocket propelled grenades in an attempt to board and hijack vessels in areas that include the northern Somali coast in the Gulf of Arden. If the attack is successful and the vessel hijacked, the pirates sail towards the Somali coast and then demand a ransom for the release of the vessel and crew.
The bureau is advising ships to keep as far away as possible from the Somali coast, ideally more than 250 nautical miles. The bureau manages the IMB Piracy Reporting Center, which is dedicated to the suppression of piracy and armed robbery against ships.
According to the PRCs most recent figures for the Gulf of Aden and East coast of Somalia, as of Nov. 18, there have been 92 attacks on vessels – 36 of which have been successful hijackings. Between 10 and 16 November 2008, alone, there were 11 attacks in the region with three vessels hijacked and another four fired upon.
Somali pirates Nov. 10 also hijacked the Stolt Strength, a chartered chemical tanker that was carrying a full cargo of phosphoric acid to India. And on Nov. 15, Somali pirates captured the MT Sirius Star, a Saudi Arabian tanker with a crew of 25 and two million barrels of crude oil valued at about $100 million. The ship, which was headed to the U.S. Gulf Coast, was hijacked about 450 nautical miles south-east of Mogadishu, Somalia.