AMO Currents - <i>M/V Advantage</i> evades pirates; crew unharmed

AMO Currents - Posted: January 20, 2011

M/V Advantage evades pirates; crew unharmed

The M/V Advantage, a U.S.-flagged ship owned and operated by Sealift LLC and manned in all licensed positions by American Maritime Officers, evaded an attack by pirates in the Somali Basin just before midnight local time on Tuesday.

Traveling through the northern part of the Somali Basin en route to Mombasa, Kenya, to deliver U.S. government food-aid, the Advantage was attacked by pirates in one skiff. There were no injuries onboard the Advantage and the ship was not damaged, the company reported.

"We are very proud of the actions taken by the master, officers and crew of the ship, which resulted in the successful evasion of the attack," said John Belle, company security officer for Sealift LLC.

The Advantage was one of four ships attacked earlier this week in the region, according to a report in TradeWinds. The Mongolian-flagged Hoang Son Sun is thought to have been seized, while the other vessels avoided hijacking. All four attacks may have been launched from a chemical carrier suspected of being used as a base or mother ship by pirates. The chemical carrier was hijacked on Saturday.

In November 2009, the Sealift LLC vessel M/V Harriette evaded an attack by pirates after sustaining small arms fire about 360 nautical miles from Mombasa, where it was also delivering U.S. government food-aid cargo. Nobody onboard the Harriette was harmed in the attack.