NATO suspects hijacked bulker is pirate mother ship

Here’s a reminder that Somali pirates are likely to use just about any kind of hijacked vessel as a mother ship. The NATO Shipping Center has issued an alert saying: “At 1310 UTC / 16 MAY / a previously hijacked ship MV EAGLE was reported in position  07 17 N 053 26 E course 260 / 7 kts. It is likely now that the ship is being used as a pirate mother vessel.”

NATO has posted this picture of the MV Eagle, a 52,163 dwt bulker, on its website

According to Eu Navfor, , the bulk carrier MV Eagle was attacked and pirated In the early hours of Monday 17 January by a single skiff, with pirates firing small arms and an RPG before boarding the vessel.

The attack occurred in the Gulf of Aden, 490 nautical miles South of Salalah, Oman. There has been no contact with the ship since the attack.

The MV Eagle which is Cypriot flagged and Greek owned, was on passage from Aqabar (Jordan) to Paradip (India) when it was attacked.

May 17, 2011