MSC Panama: moved to south of Ceel Gaan

MSC Panama arrived in Somalia and is held now south of Ceel Gaan at the Central Somali Indian Ocean coast off Harardheere, close to MV ALBEDO.

earlier
and earlier

Motivator: Evalend tanker with lubricants ransomed

The Marshall Islands-Flag Evalend chemical products tanker, lubricant cargo, MOTIVATOR IMO: 9340386, released January 16
earlier

Eagle: Perogiannakis 1985 bulker hijacked

Handymax bulker MV EAGLE was hijacked by pirates firing small arms and a Rocket Propelled Grenade before boarding the vessel, Cypriot-flagged and owned by the Perogiannakis family, Perosea Shipping Co. S.A., 52,163 dwt in the Gulf of Aden, 490 nautical miles South of Salalah, Oman on passage from Aqabar (Jordan) to Paradip (India) when it was attacked.


8126408 EAGLE P3HR8 Bulker 52163 1985 Cyprus
Beam: 32
Length: 200
Draught: 6.5
Perosea currently operates just one bulker, the 52,000-dwt Eagle (built 1985), but almost all of a series of seven 13,000-dwt chemical tankers have been delivered to the company from 21st Century Shipbuilding.

George Perogiannakis
Yannis Perogiannakis
Mrs. Vali Perogiannakis

Samho Jewelry: no direct negotiations with pirates

The government remains firm not to directly negotiate with the pirates or pay ransom. Foreign Ministry said it will "not get dragged into" the psychological warfare often launched by the Somali pirates. Korea Herald Korean ships sail through the waters more than 500 times a year, so protecting all of them is impossible. Dong-A Ilbo "From March to October last year, a total of 925 Korean vessels passed by the waters off Somalia. More than 20 percent of the ships that pass through this pirate-infested region of the world are Korean-flagged vessels, and some 29 percent of its shipping freight must sail through this danger zone. JoonAng Daily Ships operated by large Korean conglomerates apparently hire former special forces soldiers who served in Eastern Europe or Central Asia, paying them more than $10,000 a day during the five to seven days the ship passes through pirate-infested waters. In most countries, It is no use deploying the destroyers after a commercial ship has been hijacked and it could actually endanger the lives of the hostages. Chosen Ilbo The news comes as a blow for Samho Shipping after it wrapped up a nightmarish seven months of negotiations with Somali pirates last November for the return of the Samho Dream, which was hijacked last April. The negotiations were reported to have been dragged out by major investors in the pirate ring, who kept hiking up the ransom amount.

The company ended up paying $9.5 million. earlier

Samho Jewelry: MOFAT rules out ransom

KDX-II class



The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFAT) ruled out the possibility of paying ransom or negotiating with hostage takers.
The hijacked chemical tanker, named Samho Jewelry, belongs to Samho Shipping, the same company that suffered a major setback after its 300,000-ton tanker and its 24 crew were hijacked by Somali pirates last year.

It has been only two months since Somalia pirates released the crew of the oil tanker after holding them hostage for 217 days in return for a record ransom of more than over $9 million.
A multinational fleet, comprising of DDH 981 Choi Young KDX-II destroyer, and other vessels from the U.S., NATO member states, Russia and India, has been patrolling the Indian Ocean waters to clamp down on piracy.
Officials from MOFAT said Cheonghae unit’s 4,500-ton destroyer Choi Young began to move toward the hijacked freighter, but it would take at least two days to reach it.
They also confirmed the safety of all crew members of the freighter. Korea Times
earlier

Samho Jewelry: Samho Shipping chemtanker

Samho Jewelry, Malta-flag, 19924 dwt chemical carrier, from the United Arab Emirates to Sri Lanka hijacked January 15Somali pirates seized a South Korean freighter with 21 crew members in the Arabian Sea, South Korea's government said Saturday. the Samho Dream, a South Korean supertanker, was hijacked and released in 2010. here and more
Washington Post

9249594 SAMHO JEWELRY 9HHF9 Tanker 19924 2001 Malta

Helga Spirit: Teekay tanker loads BP ESPO crude

BP fixes cargo of ESPO crude for US West Coast Helga Spirit would load at Kozmino Jan. 20 Fixture comes as Alaska pipe snag threatens USWC

Crude in storage in Alaska's Valdez terminal has dwindled to below 20 percent of tank capacity
BP Plc fixed a tanker cargo of Russia's ESPO crude for shipment to the U.S. West Coast after a shutdown of Alaska's main oil pipeline prompted some oil companies to look at foreign crude substitutes.

BP was said to fix the 115,000 deadweight ton Helga Spirit tanker to load Eastern Siberian pipeline crude on Jan. 20, two shipping sources said.

The tanker would hold around 850,000 barrels of ESPO,. Helga Spirit was last seen moored in southern Japan . ESPO loads at Kozmino Port, near Vladivostok in Russia's Far East.

The Trans Alaska Pipeline System (TAPS), which normally ships around 640,000 barrels per day -- or 12 percent of U.S. oil output -- was closed for 84 hours this week, temporarily shutting in most of Alaska's oil production. The closure followed a small leak discovered on Jan. 8.

Concerns about potential supply shortfalls from Alaska had U.S. West Coast refiners on their feet this week, looking at cargoes that could substitute Alaska North Slope crude if the pipeline problems persisted.

BP, which is also the top producer in Alaska and the top stakeholder in TAPS, has about 500,000 barrels a day of refining capacity on the U.S. West Coast, including in Washington and California.

Several Aframax cargoes of ESPO have been sent to the U.S. West Coast (USWC) before. BP is not known to charter regular shipments to the region but has typically fixed ESPO cargoes for delivery to Japan or Korea.

TAPS resumed shipments on an emergency basis on Tuesday, but is expected to shut down again over the weekend as operator Alyeska installs a bypass pipe around the leak. That process could take a few days, Alyeska said, after which TAPS is expected to resume normal shipments.
It takes around 15 days to ship crude between Kozmino and Los Angeles.



Ship Name: HELGA SPIRIT
IMO: 9292503 MMSI: 311727000
Callsign: C6FZ3
Flag: Bahamas

Flag: Bahamas Signal Letters: C6FZ3
Port: NASSAU

Owner: Helga Spirit L.L.C GT (ITC 69): 62,929 NT (ITC 69): 34,548
Manager: TeeKay Shipping (Glasgow) Ltd. DWT: 115,514

DocHolder: Teekay Shipping Limited
Year of Build: 2005
Type: 101 - Tanker for Oil