Shipowners should beware firms offering to buy petroleum products outside normal anchorage areas as this could be a ploy that lures vessels to be robbed or hijacked.
Ship masters have been offered illegal cash sales of fuel cargo transferred outside anchorage areas, sister company Lloyd’s List has learned.
At least one master has reported to security sources being offered such a bunkering proposal in the Gulf of Guinea, some two weeks ahead of schedule, by an unknown caller.
Shipowners should beware firms offering to buy petroleum products outside normal anchorage areas as this could be a ploy that lures vessels to be robbed or hijacked.
Ship masters have been offered illegal cash sales of fuel cargo transferred outside anchorage areas, sister company Lloyd’s List has learned.
At least one master has reported to security sources being offered such a bunkering proposal in the Gulf of Guinea, some two weeks ahead of schedule, by an unknown caller.
The case begs the question how the caller knew the voyage details that far in advance.
It is not yet clear how widespread the ploy has become. However, email evidence gathered by intelligence firms suggests that the same template is being used to contact several shipping firms.
Dryad Maritime Intelligence warned that such approaches encourage illegal bunkering, at best. At worst, they could pose a much greater threat, luring vessels into areas where they are vulnerable to being hijacked and having their refined product cargoes stolen.
In one case, the master of a product tanker received an unsolicited email, offering the services of a maritime company to buy petroleum products.
Prices were given for a range of products, from crude oil to gasoline and aviation fuel. The email included information on ship-to-ship transfer barges, options for contact points and details.
The email worried intelligence firms for several reasons, prompting them to alert Lloyd’s Joint Cargo Committee.
First, the message came from a personal email account and the company in question did not appear to be trading in the region.
Second, prices quoted for various fuel products were significantly lower than market rates and the contact points suggested were up to 40 miles from known anchorages.
The ship operator source that reported the incident, was deeply worried that the sender knew the movements of the vessel in question.
Although there is no obvious, open source for that knowledge, further analysis reveals possible links to a legitimate maritime company that might have access to such information.
That raises the possibility that the sender of the email had legitimate access to that information for other purposes.
Although it is not possible to confirm that illegal activity is taking place, security contacts said the situation was highly unusual and suspicious.
Some security companies operating in the region believe there have been cases of hijacking and cargo theft when illegal bunkering has gone wrong.
Dryad said it had no evidence of this, but said it was very possible that a criminal group might give true contact details because, by agreeing to the transaction the master, at the very least, becomes complicit in an assumed illegal act.
Regardless whether this was intended as a precursor to serious maritime crime or to low-level black market dealings, it illustrates the extent to which information about ship movements appears freely available in the Gulf of Guinea.
Dryad said information security is key to fighting maritime crime.
“Threats emerge when little attention is paid to the integrity and protection of data,” Dryad director of intelligence Ian Millen said.
“If you don’t care who knows where the future plans for your vessel and cargo, then don’t be surprised if someone else takes an interest in it. When that someone is a criminal gang who’s looking for the commodity you have, then you are in trouble.”
Based on reported attacks and hijackings of product tankers, Millen said it was clear that success was more about planning than about luck.
“Mounting a criminal operation against a tanker as far away from Nigeria as Lomé, Abidjan or Port Gentil is unlikely to be based on luck alone, so it’s important to make it as difficult as possible for the bad guys.”
Millen said that despite a very small number of formally reported cases thus far, such activity was probably widespread and that vessels were being approached directly for information about their movements.
Source: www.LloydsList.com
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