The oil tanker that went missing offshore Angola last week, feared hijacked by pirates, has still not been found, the vessel’s owners reported.
Athens-based Dynacom Tankers Management lost communication with its vessel MT Kerala on January 18, when it was last seen seven nautical miles north west of Angola’s capital Luanda.
“Communication has yet to be established with M/T KERALA,” the company said in an online update.
“Actions with relevant agencies and authorities are still ongoing to contact the vessel and ascertain her condition.”
In an earlier update this week Dynacom said it “suspected that pirates have taken control of the vessel but same is not yet confirmed,”
The loss of communication with the tanker follows a number of warnings issued by a commercial seafarer welfare organisation, Dryad Maritime, of a suspect vessel operating off the Angolan coast.
If confirmed as a hijack, Dynacom Tankers will be the first company hit by a pirate attack this far south off West African waters in 2014 – after its other vessel, MT Smyrni, was the last to be released by Somali pirates in 2013.