Armed guards employed aboard the Danish MR product tanker ‘TORM Kansas’ recently succeeded in deterring an attack by a group of pirates in the western Indian Ocean.

The ship owners inform that the Indian master, his crew and the employed armed guards are safe and suffered no injuries as theyshowed great skill in deterring the attack. No pirates were hurt either.

The MR product tanker TORM Kansas was in open sea at the time of the incident, enroute from Sikka in India to Mossel Bay in South Africa (position latitude: 007, 19 South, longitude: 048, 36.7 East) when the pirates approached the vessel in a skiff and opened fire.

In accordance with Rules for the Use of Force the security guards fired a number of warning shots, and subsequently the pirates abandoned their attack.

“I am relieved that no one on TORM Kansas was injured and at the same time I am pleased that all our procedures again worked effectively,” says Claus U. Jensen, Senior Vice President, Technical Division.