Kerala was hijacked by pirates off Angola: Liberian Registry

The Liberian-flagged product tanker was hijacked off Luanda on 18 January and recovered a week later off Nigeria, with a large amount of its cargo stolen. While Dynacom Tankers Management said the vessel had been hijacked by pirates, the Angolan navy claimed the crew had faked the hijacking.

Following the recovery of the vessels the owners and the Liberian Registry requested the involvement of an Interpol-led multinational Incident Response Team

“Although the investigation is still ongoing, the evidence gathered thus far by the Interpol Incident Response Team has allowed the Liberian Registry to conclude that the vessel was hijacked by pirates,” the registry said.

During the hijacking the pirates disabled AIS and communications equipment and painted over identifying features of the vessel. The pirates performed three ship-to-ship transfers stealing 12,271.5 metric tonnes of cargo.

“Liberia will continue working with the authorities in Ghana, Nigeria and Angola and elsewhere in the region in order to bring to justice the perpetrators of this crime to justice,” the registry said.