A small oil tanker has washed up on the shores of Liberia with no crew or captain, leaving Liberian authorities baffled.
The mystery surrounding the 64 meter Tamaya 1 suggests that crew may have abandoned the ship after the vessel’s owner may have gone broke, through to an act of piracy, something not unknown in the coastal waters.
According to the International Maritime Bureau, that rate of piracy attacks overall has declined in 2014, but the attacks have worsened in violence in West African waters. So far, 44 seafarers have been captured this year.
Worldwide, according to the ICC, a large percentage of piracy and armed robbery incidents in 2016 showed hijacking, with crew kidnapped, held hostage and ransomed. This may explain the Tamaya 1’s sudden appearance.
What does strike as unusual in this situation is the washing up of this ship going unnoticed for several days. Due to the delay in securing the ship, pertinent evidence needed to track down the history of the ship is now missing, including operational documents and all communications equipment.
Authorities have said to have arrested several looters since, even recovering stolen crude oil. However, recovery in the equipment has yet to be determined.
RT reports that 12 ‘ghost ships’ were discovered off the Japanese coastline and in 2003, a Chinese ship was discovered on the West coast of Australia.
Armed officers have since been deployed around the ship in a bid to starve off further looters and investigate the ship’s history.
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