The Greek manager of a fully-laden VLCC hijacked in the Arabian Sea on Wednesday appears to be at loggerheads with naval authorities over crucial details leading up to its seizure.
Enesel SA steadfastly refutes suggestions that its 319,300-dwt Irene SL (built 2004) had not correctly reported to the relevant naval bodies before it was taken by pirates off Oman.
There are also apparent contradictions over the route which the Greece-flagged tanker intended to take to the US Gulf with some suggestions that its next port of call was actually Suez.
Contact was lost with the NS Lemos-owned vessel on Wednesday morning after it was boarded by pirates some 350 miles south-east of Muscat. It was later confirmed as hijacked although the welfare of its 25 crew - comprising seven Greeks, 17 Filipinos and one Georgian - is unknown.
An initial statement released on behalf of Athens-based manager Enesel indicated the ship was registered with both the Maritime Security Centre (Horn of Africa) [MSC (HOA)] and the UK Maritime Trade Operations (UKMTO). This was swiftly contradicted, however, by counter-piracy force EU NAVFOR’s statement confirming the hijacking which read: “The MV Irene SL was not registered with MSC (HOA), but was reporting to UKMTO.”
When TradeWinds sought clarification on the issue from Enesel it was told in an e-mailed statement: “The Irene SL was registered with both MSC (HOA) and UKMTO yesterday (8 February) and also a new position was given to both between the registration and the attack.”
The brief statement continued: “Confirmations from both were received.”
A spokesperson for UK-based EU NAVFOR then claimed that, although the vessel had indeed registered with MSC (HOA), it had not registered the details of the route it intended to take on its latest voyage.
Enesel has earlier said the ship was en route from Kuwait to the US Gulf with a full cargo of Kuwait Export crude. This would have appeared to indicate that it intended on going around the Cape of Good Hope.
EU NAVFOR’s statement continued, however, that the ship’s next intended port of call after a stop off in Fujairah was Suez. Such an itinerary, although possible through partial unloading into the Sumed pipeline in Egypt, always appeared unlikely with a senior tanker broking source indicating the ship was all but certainly headed around the Cape.
The Irene SL is currently on voyage charter to Kuwait Petroleum Corp (KPC). It is believed to have been taken by Grand China Logistics last year for either one or three years and placed in the Tankers International pool. TradeWinds reported at the end of October that Grand China had taken the ship for just one year at $43,000 a day but had also chartered Lemos’ 308,500-dwt Antonis (built 2001) for three years at $32,500 a day. KPC is believed to at least have an option to take the ship via the Suez Canal.
