Competing accounts cloud Sibu 1 tanker rescue

Shafaq News- Baghdad/ Basra

Conflicting accounts have emerged over who freed the Sibu 1 oil-products tanker from pirates off Somalia, with a Basra tribal sheikh crediting members of his clan, Puntland maritime police saying they carried out the operation, and Somali reports indicating that personnel working for the vessel’s owner also took part.

The Puntland Maritime Police Force (PMPF) said it recovered the tanker and its crew in a two-day counter-piracy operation off the coast of Somalia’s Mudug region.

In a later update, the force said all 20 crew members were safe, including one Iraqi, and that one pirate was killed, five were wounded and 41 others were detained.

Sheikh Ali Al-Shaghanbi told Shafaq News on Friday that around 40 members of the Al-Shaghanba clan had moved to help free the tanker, which he said belongs to a member of the clan, after coordinating with contacts outside Iraq.

Al-Shaghanbi said the operation ended with seven pirates captured and others fleeing.

However, Somali outlet Horseed Media, citing maritime security sources, reported that personnel working on behalf of the company that owns the tanker assisted Puntland maritime police during the operation.

Horseed said videos and images circulated by Iraqi sources showed Sibu 1, captured pirates and Somali personnel at the scene, but did not establish who led the boarding operation or the extent of each side’s role.

The tanker was hijacked on August 20 while sailing in the Gulf of Aden near the Yemeni coast before being taken into Somali waters.