DIM regains contact with its vessel "KERALA" hijacked off Angola
Athens, Greece based Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd. (DIM) on Sunday, 26 January 2014 regained contract with the "KERALA" vessel (IMO No. 9390927) which was recently hijacked at Angola, Luanda Anchorage, the company said on Monday.
"We were able to re-establish contact with the vessel and speak to the Master. All crew members are alive and accounted for, but one is wounded and all have clearly been affected by their ordeal. A large amount of cargo has been stolen", the company said in a statement.
DIM lost contact with the vessel on 18 January 2014. The Company instigated emergency response procedures and engaged professionals experienced in dealing with these type of incidents.
"It quickly became apparent that we were dealing with a piracy incident and that the vessel had been hijacked. In accordance with good practice, we did not provide detailed press releases whilst the situation was unfolding, but worked alongside the relevant authorities to try to resolve the incident".
"We would like to thank the European, North American and other international intelligence agencies who worked with us during this incident, as well as the regional and international navies who dispatched assets to monitor the pirates and provided support and assistance to us".
Representatives of international law enforcement and intelligence agencies that are experienced in dealing with piracy incidents will be attending on board to gather intelligence and forensic evidence from the vessel and crew in order to try to bring to justice those involved in pirate attack.
Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd. (DTM) was founded in 1991 to manage oil tankers. Since 1991 DTM’s fleet has been significantly expanded and modernized and the Company has developed a strong network of customer relationships and a reputation for transportation excellence among quality-sensitive customers. DTM has a strong presence in the oil industry, delivering over 1.8 million barrels of cargo daily, with vessels calling at more than 1,000 ports yearly. Since 2001 DTM has launched an intensive fleet renewal programme, resulting in the formation of a fleet with an average age of 5 years compared to 13 years average age of the worldwide tanker fleet. By 2010 DTM will have a fleet with an average age of 3 years. By that time, it is anticipated that nearly 100% of DTM’s fleet will be double hull vessels. The existing fleet totaling about 5 million deadweight tonnes, out of which 80% are double hull new buildings. In addition, DTM is awaiting delivery of additional newbuildings consisting of VLCCs, Suezmax, Aframax, Panamax and coated product Panamax tankers (LR1). In view of the rapid growth of oil exports in the Baltic region, certain Suezmax and Panamax tankers have been ice strengthened to 1A for Hull and machinery.