The product oil tanker Anuket Emerald was hijacked in Gulf of Guinea and released a few days later. The ship was missing for a few days, after it was hijacked during the passage near the coast of the African country on 18th August 2012. The ship was carrying petroleum products and a skiff with armed men attached it from the port side. The tanker tried to maneuver, but after a few shots from the pirates, the captain gave command to stop the engine. The pirates got control of the vessel and headed it to some of their ports, where large part of the cargo was discharged. The pirates wanted only to stole the cargo, which is their usual purpose when hijacking ships. According to the seamen operating in this region, Gulf of Guinea is very dangerous, as there are pirates attacks on more than 200 nautical miles off the shore. Usually the pirates attack the ships, which are drifting in the Gulf of Guinea and waiting for entering in Lome, Lagos or other ports. Usually the vessels are waiting for more than a couple of days to enter into the ports in the vicinity, enclosing to entrance position and returning back into the ocean. So the pirates have good visibility of the ships movement and can get the vessel, when off the shore even on over 200 nautical miles.
The product oil tanker Anuket Emerald (IMO: 9393644) has length of 100.00 m, beam of 19.00 m and summer draft of 6.70 m. The deadweight of the vessel is 7,415 DWT, while the gross tonnage is 5,581 GRT. The ship is operated by the company Norbulk Shipping UK Ltd.