Reporting indicates that a vessel has reported an attempted boarding by a small craft (c12m) 6-8 persons on board, with ladder sighted.
Incident
DTG
16 August 2020 0430UTC
Position
04°02.42'N, 001°04.24'E
Location
114nm SE of Tema, Ghana
Vessel Dimensions
228.6 x 32.29 m
Vessel Type/Cargo
Product Tanker
Source Confidence Level
High
Incident Overview
Reporting suggests that the Marshall Islands flagged Oil tanker PIKE IMO: 9396672 was approached by a small craft approximately 12-14m long. There were 6-8 persons onboard as well as a metal ladder. They attempted to board but aborted after avoidance manoeuvres were made by the vessel. The vessel and crew are safe and have continued on route.
Dryad Analysis
The location that the reported incident has occurred is approximately 114nm SE of Tema. This is the 7th incident in the waters off Ghana within 2020. This is a partial increase across the same timeframe in 2019. Incidents within waters off Ghana are often typified by low level maritime crime, particularly boarding’s at anchor and in port for the purposes in petty theft. Whilst this is the first deep offshore incident within 2020 successive years have seen a number of reports of suspicious approaches.