Halifax: tanker hijacked to steal oil, not ransom

Pirates seized an oil tanker off the coast of Nigeria's southern delta, kidnapping the crew in a bid to steal ship's cargo in the latest hijacking targeting the region, private security officials said November 3
Gunmen boarded the MT Halifax as it sat in waters off the coast of Port Harcourt, the main city in the oil-rich Niger Delta, the officials said.

The pirates took over control of the ship and sailed off into the waters of the Gulf of Guinea, and are holding onto the crew as they offload the crude oil in the ship's hold, the officials said.

8810932 HALIFAX 9HMH5 Tanker 29753 1992

Vessel's name: Halifax Last updated: Aug 23, 2011
Ex-name(s): STARDUST / HAWK / MARITIME PRUDENCE
IMO number: 8810932
Flag: Malta Call sign: 9HMH5
Port of Registry: VALLETTA Summer DWT: 29752.95 MT
Type of vessel: Oil Tanker Built: Feb 26, 1992
Type of hull: Double Bottom Owner: TRUST A MARITIME LTD
Class Society: Lloyds Register Operator: ANCORA INVESTMENT TRUST INC.

Liquid Velvet: which tanker hijacked in Gulf of Aden

Marshall Islands-flagged Liquid Velvet was seized on Monday in the Gulf of Aden
The 11,599 DWT vessel is owned by Greek firm Elmira Tankers,

9083940 LIQUID VELVET V7OM9 Tanker 11559 1994
Vessel's name: Liquid Velvet Last updated: Jul 14, 2011
Ex-name(s): Liquid Challenge / Shina IMO number: 9083940
Flag: Marshall Island Call sign: V7OM9
Port of Registry: Majuro Summer DWT: 11559 MT
Type of vessel: Chemical Built: Feb 10, 1994
Type of hull: Double Hull Owner: Minimal Enterprise Co.
Class Society: Nippon Kaiji Kyokai Operator: Elmira Tankers Management S.A.


Compare BEN
Built 2006 by Samho as Songa Diamond
Renamed: 2006 Brovig Bay, 2007 Liquid Velvet, 2007 Ben
At the terminal on the same day was 1994 built “Liquid Velvet”(9083940)
Owner: Open Waters Ben Pte Ltd
Manager: Columbia Shipmgmt Singapore
GRT 8450, DWT 12910
Length 127, beam 20 metre
Single screw diesel 13.5 kts
IMO Number: 9311646
Brovig Bay purchased by Elmira Shipping, and renamed Liquid Velvet.
Renamed: 2006 Brovig Bay, 2007 Liquid Velvet, 2007 Ben

Equator: George Prokopiou's tanker at Tobruk

The Equator arrived at the Marsa al Hariga terminal, near the port of Tobruk in eastern Libya, at about 2 p.m. time local time. The 900-foot vessel came from the Red Sea and used Egypt’s Suez Canal to enter the Mediterranean, the data show.
EQUATOR IMO number: 9296389 GRT 78845 Crude Oil Tanker 2006 Liberia Call Sign: A8GQ6 Ship manager: DYNACOM TANKERS MANAGEMENT

Dynacom Tankers Management, Ltd., a shipping company, Greece’s third-largest operator of supertankers, operates cargo vessels for the oil industry. It operates a fleet of double hulls, very large crude carriers (VLCC), tankers, and LNG carriers. The company was founded in 1991 and is based in Athens, Greece with additional offices in Bombay and New Delhi, India; Singapore, Singapore; Fujaira, the United Arab Emirates; and a representation in Beijing, China.
The Greek shipowner George Prokopiou, has over the past two years led his company, DYNACOM TANKERS MANAGEMENT LTD to innovation and modernisation by putting into application a wide fleet renewal program. On the occassion of this important development, Mr George Prokopiou spoke exclusively to ELNAVI about the targets of this great effort and about its company's future prospects Mr Prokopiou said that, after many years, a fleet renewal program started about two years ago. For many years the company had managed a fleet of up to 45 tankers totalling 5,5 m dw. The age of those tankers ranged from 20 to 25 years, but with those ships the company managed to include in its clientele all major oil product companies having achieved over the past five years an average delivered crude oil quantity of 1.100.000 barrels a day. According to reports from market sources which were confirmed by Mr Prokopiou, of Dynacom Tankers Management Ltd's old tankers, some have been sold for further trading or conversion to FPSOs while others have been sold for scrap. At the same time an order was placed for newbuildings which are now under construction. This includes twelve suezmaxes, four aframaxes, and three panamaxes. These ships are being built by Sumitomo Heavy Industries, Hyundai Heavy Industries, NKK Onomichi, and Sasebo Heavy Industries. Six ships, of which four are suezmaxes, have already been delivered while in January 2003 three more new tankers will join DYNACOM TANKERS fleet. At present, DYNACOM TANKERS MANAGEMENT LTD's fleet includes 24 tankers whose average age is just below 11 years but in 2004 when newbuilding deliveries are scheduled to be completed, the fleet's average age will drop to eight years. The newbuilding program is Mr Prokopiou's first investment in new tankers. (2003)

Tankers: 1975 redux

The global oil-tanker fleet will expand by 86.5 million deadweight tons in the next two years, equal to about 27 percent of existing capacity, The extra ships would exceed the previous record of 79.8 million deadweight tons set in 1974 and 1975.