Pirates Release Tanker After Stealing Gasoline Cargo

A gasoline tanker that was believed to have been hijacked last week has now reportedly been freed by West African pirates, although some of its cargo has been stolen according to the ship’s owner. This seems to be a rising trend in the region – pirates briefly seize vessels to unload the oil products in which they can profit off of.

A statement from BW Maritime suggests that their tanker, the BW Rhine, had indeed been captured for the gasoline cargo onboard, which was valued at millions of dollars. Although some of the precious cargo was stolen, all 24 crewmen are now safe.

The ship and crew are heading to a nearby port towards safety, but their specific location will not be released. It has also not been confirmed if anyone was injured or not. Three of the crew members, as well as the captain, are Indian, while the rest of the crew is Filipino or Chinese, including some from Hong Kong.

The BW Rhine was seized from anchorage off Lome, Togo on April 28, the first incident of its kind near the country's capital, reports Reuters.

According to the International Maritime Bureau (IMB), this hijacking seems typical of a pattern developing off West Africa. At least 16 similar incidents have been reported along the coastline from Togo to Nigeria. They are usually held between 5 and 10 days, enough time to steal the ship’s cargo. Attacks on tankers seem to fluctuate widely from case to case, but in general, West African pirates are more violent than those off East Africa.

An IMB report also adds that most cases off the West African coast go unreported, either for fear of prompting another attack or possibly for insurance reasons. East African pirates, mainly based in Somalia, tend to hold vessels and crew for ransom; while in West African countries, especially Nigeria, there is a large and highly advanced black market for oil and its products.

Allegedly, the BW Rhine had been loaded with about 60,000 tons of gasoline and with spot prices currently well over $1,000 a ton, the entire shipment could be worth more than $60 million. The gasoline onboard was owned by Swiss-based trading house Vitol, according to Reuters. The firm apparently had commercial control of the vessel.

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Release from BW Maritime:

Product tanker BW Rhine has been released off Nigeria by its captors. All 24 crew members are safe.

At 0630 UTC today, communications were re-established with the vessel. The Master of BW Rhine Captain Dheeraj Sharma confirmed that the vessel has been held under duress while the cargo was being stolen.

“We are all very relieved and our immediate priority is to ensure the wellbeing of our employees,” says BW Maritime CEO Andreas Sohmen-Pao.

BW Rhine is currently enroute to a nearby port, where support services have been arranged for the crew upon arrival.

This is the first known hijack case of this nature in Lome, Togo. The attack took place at a patrolled anchorage with a large number of other vessels in the area. A thorough investigation of the incident will be undertaken in the coming weeks and the company requests that respect is given to the privacy of the crew and their families after their ordeal.