Angola

Reference is made to the attached document from the Norwegian Maritime Authority, dated 31 January 2014.

MT Kerala was reportedly hijacked on 18 January 2014 off Luanda (650 nautical miles south of Gabon) and released 25 January 2014 off Nigeria. The vessel did not expect to be attacked and was not very well protected.
According to NSA, Liberian flag state, allied and industry stakeholders this incident off Luanda has to be treated as a piracy attack by Nigerian pirates. Assertions of the local authorities that hijacking of Kerala was "faked" were contradicted by the Liberian Register, which continues to investigate this incident with the help of various multinational resources including INTERPOL.
The pirates disabled the vessel's AIS and other communication equipment, painted over the vessel's identifying features. Diesel cargo on board the ship was offloaded during three STS operations prior vessel's release. One crew member was reported injured, other crew members were beaten but not injured.

Statistically most Nigerian piracy attacks and robberies take place in the Gulf of Guinea: off Nigeria, Benin and Togo. However, southward expansion of piracy calls for security precautions while operating off Angola including in the offshore oil fields.

NSA advice
The NSA recommends that relevant security measures are implemented by masters on vessels operating between (and including) Cote d'Ivoire and Angola. Vessels and companies are encouraged to take note of and follow the recommendations submitted by the industry in the "Interim Guidelines for Owners, Operators and Masters for protection against piracy in the Gulf of Guinea region", as well as other relevant advice, including for example:

• Increased situational awareness, night and day
• Operational planning suited to mitigate risk
• Conduct security/anti-piracy exercises and drills
• Increased look out
• Early warning/distress call
• Citadel / safe / strong room

Masters are urged to report all suspicious activity to the local authorities and to the IMB Piracy Reporting Centre, e-mail: piracy@icc-ccs.org, 24 hours Anti Piracy HELPLINE Tel: + 60 3 2031 0014.

Sharing information will create awareness and assist other shipowners operating in the region to protect their vessels. The distances which Nigerian pirates have traveled in order to hijack the vessels have significantly increased since last year.