Armed pirates boarded the product tanker Tosna Star and robbed it, while it was off the port of Port-au-Prince, Haiti last Sunday, according to one of its crewmembers.
Accordingly, it has been reported that theArgentine crew of the Tosna Star has been stuck on board for months due to the novel coronavirus, unable to return to their homes.
The vessel remains at the anchorage off Port-au-Prince, where a group of armed Haitians boarded the tanker by the stern.
In an account posted on Facebook, crewmember Claudio Omar Benitez informed about the incident and commented that “They came up aggressive, armed with machetes and knives. They took the sailor on duty by surprise, taking advantage of the darkness of the moment … and nervously asked him in his language to give them the phone and everything he had in his possession at that time.”
The robbers did the same with two additiona crew members. However, an oiler saw what was going on and sounded the alarm, waking up the rest of the crew. Benitez added that although the officers were on the bridge, the captain locked himself in his cabin, frightened and in a panic attack.
After the alarm was sounded, the armed robbers left the vessel with stolen goos using small boats. Following, as a precautionary measure the bridge team decided to raise anchor and leave the area.
Benitez concluded that “Their lives as well as the lives of the entire crew . . . will not be the same . . . what else will happen to us before we can return to our home healthy?”
See also:
- Attacks against ships increasing in Straits of Malacca and Singapore
- Armed men attack crew member on bulker in Singapore Strait
