In the early hours of 25 September, the Panama flagged MV LUGELA sent a distress alert to its Greek operator.
The vessel was in the Somali Basin, approximately 900 nautical miles East of Eyl, Somalia. A short while later, the vessel altered course to sail towards the Somali coast. There has been no contact with the ship throughout this incident.
After having transited through the Gulf of Aden, the MV LUGELA was sailing in direction of Republic of Mauritius with a cargo of steel bars and wires. The MV LUGELA, deadweight 4,281 tons, has a crew of 12, all Ukrainian.
EU NAVFOR Somalia – Operation ATALANTA’s main tasks are to escort merchant vessels carrying humanitarian aid of the World Food Programme (WFP) and vessels of African Union Mission in Somalia, AMISOM and to protect vulnerable vessels in the Gulf of Aden and Indian Ocean and to deter and disrupt piracy. EU NAVFOR also monitors fishing activity off the coast of Somalia.