SINGAPORE - A Singapore-flagged tanker was boarded by pirates around 570km from Ivory Coast in western Africa at about 10pm on Monday.

The incident was first flagged by the Maritime Domain Awareness for Trade-Gulf of Guinea, a joint maritime monitoring effort by France and Britain. It said that an “unknown number” of pirates boarded the tanker about 300 nautical miles south of the city of Abidjan.

As at Tuesday, the situation continues to be classified as ongoing. No further details were provided.

In response to queries from The Straits Times, the Maritime and Port Authority of Singapore (MPA) said there are 20 crew members of various nationalities on board the vessel.

One of them is a Singaporean.

The vessel, identified as the Success 9 by security consultant Praesidium International, is a chemical and oil product tanker.

It was last sighted off the coast of Abidjan on March 22, the day it departed the port.

MPA said it is working closely with HS Ocean, the vessel’s Singapore-registered owner; the Monrovia Regional Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre; and the Information Fusion Centre at the Changi Command and Control Centre to monitor the situation and give assistance. 

Meanwhile, the UK-based security consultant EOS Risk Group has warned vessels to keep clear of the area.

“It is likely that another vessel was used to support the pirates during the incident. Either a mothership was used to deploy a skiff, or a secondary tanker is in the vicinity to illegally offload the boarded vessel’s cargo,” it said.

The latest pirate attack comes after a similar incident on March 26 involving the Monjasa Reformer, a chemical and oil tanker sailing under the Liberian flag. That took place about 260km off Pointe-Noire in the Republic of the Congo.

“(It) exemplifies West African pirates’ ability to conduct piracy at great range from the shore,” added the security consultant.