Novorossiysk tanker shook off pirates

22.12.2009
Tanker NS Stream of Novorossiysk Shipping Company got away from pursuing pirates off Guinea on Friday, informs Seafarers' Union of Russia.

Motorboat with armed people on board approached the tanker about 09.30 pm 60 miles off the coast. The tanker was calling at the port of Guinean capital Conakry and managed to shake off pursuers. Pirates made several shots at the tanker, although nobody suffered and NS Stream was not damaged either. Later on, the ship discharged almost 30,000 tonnes of oil products and sailed deep to the continent for reasons of safety.

Pirates twice have attacked vessels of OJSC Novoship in the Gulf of Aden. In April tanker NS Commander shook off pirates thanks to proficient maneuvering; in May tanker NS Spirit avoided seizure by calling in aid to large ASW ship Admiral Panteleev. The warship was keeping anti-piracy watch and sent shipborne helicopter to deter pirates.

As of Oct 20, since the beginning of 2009 number of pirate attacks worldwide was 324. Pirates had captured 37 vessels and 639 hostages. In the same period of 2008 those numbers were 194, 36 and 631 correspondingly.

Source: RusNavy.com, photo: tanker NS Stream (tradewinds.no)