YORk: LPG tanker released - was mothership

LPG tanker York released by pirates on March 10 2011,  She was sailing empty after discharging her LPG cargo at the Shimanzi oil terminal in Mombasa,' Mwangura. With no insured cargo, ransom amount is unknown. Vessel took on board crew of another released vessel, m/v Rak Africana,  LPG tanker York pirated on October 23 2010 in 04 11 S 41 19 E, vessel was enroute Mombasa Kenya to Seyshelles.
 She was one of the four motherships used by pirates to extend their range into the Indian Ocean. Along with the chemical tanker, MV Hannibal II, MV Polar, MT Motivator and the MV Izumi, they had been called 'game changers'. The MV York was first suspected of being used as a mobile platform for pirate attacks in 2010. Prior to such large vessels being used, the atypical "mothership" was a fishing vessel hijacked for its food and water supply, and the ability to disguise the pirate's skiffs, although these vessels and dhows remain the basis of the pirate mothership fleet.   These large ships act as floating fuel stations allowing other motherships and pirated vessels to operate for longer and further. The ships', equipment and tools, and crews are placed under duress in order to be utilised to hijack other ships.
9220421 YORK  9VED8 LPG Tanker  5076  2000


Ship Type: Lpg tanker
Year Built: 2000
Length x Breadth: 100 m X 20 m
Gross Tonnage: 4807, DeadWeight: 5076 t
Speed recorded (Max / Average): 11.6 / 9 knots
Flag: Singapore [SG] 
Call Sign: 9VED8
IMO: 9220421, MMSI: 565525000


 Owned by the Greek shipping company, York Maritime and operated by Bernhard Schulte Ship Management in Germany



navfo
longchamp ransom
German Navy
hijack

Maria Dolores;San Ġwann;York: Libya rescues

The Virtu Ferries catamaran Maria Dolores berthed with 599 Koreans on board. The trip from Tripoli to Malta was chartered by Hyundai and shortly after their arrival in Malta, the passengers were transferred to the Intercontinental Hotel until they can fly back to their country.

The same company’s catamaran San Ġwann left the port of Sirte in Libya at 3.15pm local time and was expected to berth in Valletta at 2am last night. A total of 136 people, as part of the Hyundai-chartered operation, were on board.

There were no plans for the catamarans to leave Malta again by yesterday evening.
HMS York has been delivering medical supplies provided by the Swedish authorities to Benghazi. Also onboard the British ship was Anders Nordmark, a medical coordinator with the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (Myndigheten för samhällsskydd och beredskap – MSB).

"We were lying at the pier for a few hours. I had gone through all the medicine and ensured that it was given to the right people," he told TT.

Around 1.3 tonnes of medicine and hospital equipment was left in Benghazi. ‘We’ve been operating off the Libyan coast for the last five or six days in a number of operations,’ said Cdr Staley. He said he could not go in to details of exactly what the Type 42 destroyer has been doing The ship is expected to refuel in Malta and return to sea to be available for further missions.

York: RN Destroyer from Gib to Malta for Libya

York, D98, was ordered to head east for the Libyan coast from Gibraltar


Name: HMS York
Operator: Royal Navy
Builder: Swan Hunter
Laid down: 18 January 1980
Launched: 20 June 1982
Christened: 9 August 1985
Commissioned: 9 August 1985
Identification: Pennant number: D98

Cumberland frigate had left the rebel-held port of Benghazi in eastern Libya on Thursday carrying 207 passengers but was forced to travel at a reduced speed because of the rough weather in the Mediterranean.

The vessel carried citizens from more than 20 countries -- part of a vast multinational workforce in Libya that includes oil industry executives from Europe and the United States and migrant workers from Africa and Asia.
earlier

York: Another BSM LPG tanker hijacked

The vessel was attacked on 23 October by two skiffs, approximately 50 nautical miles East from Mombasa. The Turkish warship GAZIANTEP, operating under the Combined Maritime Forces (Task Force 151) launched her helicopter to investigate. The helicopter was able to observe pirates with weapons on board the vessel.

The German-owned Bernhard Schulte Management LPG tanker LONGCHAMP was released after the ransom had been delivered by air. Local marine observers reported that the ransom was delivered by an aircraft at around 14h00 2009-03-27, $6 million had been the demand. then read see earlier


9220421 YORK 9VED8 LPG Tanker 5076 2000 Singapore