Boxship Maersk Tema Attacked by Pirates in Gulf of Guinea

By maritimemag February 16, 2020

The container ship Maersk Tema has been attacked by pirates off the coast of Guinea, confirmed ship manager BSM on Friday.

AIS tracking shows that on Friday morning, the Maersk Tema was underway and making 20 knots off São Tomé in the Gulf of Guinea. At about 0805 hours GMT, at a position about 100 nm to the northwest of São Tomé, she dropped speed to 3.5 knots. She then drifted northeast at half a knot for the remainder of the day.

A BSM spokesperson told Ekstra Bladet that two small vessels approached Maersk Tema while she was under way, and the crew initiated emergency procedures. The local authorities have been alerted.

Maersk Tema is a 2015-built container ship managed by BSM, and she has a capacity of about 5,000 TEU. Her ownership transferred from Oaktree Capital Management to a holding company in 2019. According to Maersk Group, she is not a Maersk ship, and photos show that she does not wear the Maersk livery.