There were reports yesterday that the Greek –owned tanker; MT Orfeas which was attacked late last week, may have been hijacked in Ivory Coast by pirates and is heading towards Lagos, Nigeria.
There were reports yesterday that the Greek –owned tanker; MT Orfeas which was attacked late last week, may have been hijacked in Ivory Coast by pirates and is heading towards Lagos, Nigeria.
International maritime watchdogs hinted yesterday that the tanker, which was to offload two cargoes of petroleum onto a lightering ship, successfully completed one load in position 05:12.56N – 004:03.68W at the Abidjan anchorage in Ivory Coast, but, when the lightering ship returned, the Orfeas had gone. The ship's AIS was last spotted in position 01.46N-000.36W, around 217nautical miles South of Accra, Ghana on October 6th.
The vessel is managed by Grace Management SA, Greece. The Orfeas has a crew of 24 onboard, consisting of Greek and Filipinos.
Earlier reports suggest the ship was carrying around 30,000 tons of gasoline at the time of its disappearance.
The Orfeas was anchored off Abidjan, the main port of Ivory Coast, when it sailed south in the early hours of Saturday morning “without orders or explanation,” the owners; Grace Management SA said in a statement yesterday, adding that the ship’s last known position indicated it was heading towards Lagos in Nigeria.
“The managers have been trying to contact Orfeas continuously, unfortunately without result,” Grace Management said, adding it had requested assistance from all relevant authorities and neighboring countries.
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