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.

Harbor Star Shipping Services Inc. has loaned one of its barges to the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) to help transport relief goods and emergency tools to Tacloban City in Leyte and other sites massively ravaged by the super-typhoon, reports the nations’s ‘BusinessMirror’.

The company’s board of directors approved the availability of its 300-footer Barge Lynx for free offer to the PCG to use in its relief operations in areas badly hit by Supertypoon Yolanda (international code name Haiyan).

As one of the country’s biggest barges, Harbor Star’s Barge Lynx is capable of transporting 8,000 metric tons of goods or 150,000 sacks of rice.

Apart from offering the vessel, the marine services provider is also raising funds by seeking donations from its officers, employees and crew, as well as from selling its scrap metals, an  executive of Harbor Star informed ‘BusinessMirror’.

Source: Business Mirror

JO Tankers has placed an order for eight 33.000 dwt stainless-steel chemical tankers at China’s New Times Shipbuilding, with deliveries scheduled for 2016 and 2017. The deal consists of firm and optional contracts.

The new buildings will join Milestone Chemical Tankers – the jointly owned chartering and marketing arm of JO Tankers and Tokyo Marine.

JO Tankers say that the new-buildings will be built to the highest specification. The combination of modern design and modern engines will reduce the fuel consumption by 25% compared to other designs.

In related news the company informs that the same shipyard has already constructed and delivered two LR1 tankers for JO Tankers, who will also take delivery of two more 33.000 tdw presently under construction at Mingde Heavy Industries, China. The “JO Lotus” – yard no 159 will be delivered next month and yard no 160 in the first half next year.