The crude oil tanker Navig8 Providence was attacked by pirates on 103 nautical miles east of Muscat, Oman. The vessel was chased by skiff with six persons armed with guns, which approached and fired upon a tanker underway. All the non-essential crew retreated to the citadel and the duty officer and Master increased speed and started maneuvering to avoid boarding of the pirates. The onboard armed security team fired warning shots against the skiff, which resulted in the pirates moving away. Also a mother vessel was seen in the vicinity, but the attack did not repeated. The attack was reported by IMB Piracy center and confirmed by EU Navfor. There were no reported injuries and investigation for the root cause is under way. The vessel Navig8 Providence proceeded to her voyage.

“It is understood that the skiff moved towards the tanker, there was an exchange of small arms fire between the suspected pirates and the maritime security team onboard the tanker”, said the official statement of EU Navfor.

EU Navfor said anti-piracy forces in the area were jointly responding to the attack by searching for the skiff.

The crude oil tanker Navig8 Providence (IMO: 9737759) has overall length of 220.00 m, moulded beam of 38.00 m and maximum draft of 12.70 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 74,997 DWT and the gross tonnage is 43,142 GRT.