On the afternoon of 28 December the U.K Flagged Chemical Tanker the M/V ST JAMES PARK, owned by PHILBOX LIMITED, was hijacked in the Gulf of Aden whilst transiting the International Recognized Transit Corridor (IRTC).
ST JAMES PARK has a crew of 26, among them Filipinos (3), Russians (3), Georgians (1), Romanians (2), Bulgarians (5), Ukrainans (2), Polish (1), Indians (6) and Turkish (3). There are no UK citizens onboard. The ship sent a distress message and a warship from Task Force 151 was able to get in contact with the ship using his Somali translator who reported that the ship has been hijacked. The M/V St JAMES PARK, who started her transit on 27 December, was registered with MSC HOA but did not join a group transit.
The ship is now heading towards the Somali coast and EU NAVFOR is monitoring the situation.
The main tasks of EUNAVFOR mission Operation ATALANTA are to escort merchant vessels carrying food of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP), the protection of vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy.
ST JAMES PARK has a crew of 26, among them Filipinos (3), Russians (3), Georgians (1), Romanians (2), Bulgarians (5), Ukrainans (2), Polish (1), Indians (6) and Turkish (3). There are no UK citizens onboard. The ship sent a distress message and a warship from Task Force 151 was able to get in contact with the ship using his Somali translator who reported that the ship has been hijacked. The M/V St JAMES PARK, who started her transit on 27 December, was registered with MSC HOA but did not join a group transit.
The ship is now heading towards the Somali coast and EU NAVFOR is monitoring the situation.
The main tasks of EUNAVFOR mission Operation ATALANTA are to escort merchant vessels carrying food of the ‘World Food Program’ (WFP), the protection of vulnerable ships in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy.