Quick-thinking crew disabled engines to stymie Iranian hijackers
Crew of hijacked bitumen carrier disabled ship’s engines to avoid being taken to Iran.
The quick-thinking crew of the hijacked bitumen carrier Asphalt Princess are reported to have disabled the 9,700-dwt vessel’s engines to prevent armed hijackers from diverting the ship to Iran.
In an audio recording released yesterday, one of the ship’s crew could be heard saying “we are drifting”.
The quick implementation of anti-piracy measures delayed the vessel’s progress just enough to let US and Omani warships come to her aid, and may have been instrumental in preventing the incident from escalating further.
A “squad of heavily armed men”, said by multiple intelligence sources to be Iranian commandos, fled the stricken ship as soon as the US and Omani vessels hove into sight.
