Page 6 - AfrOil Week 12 2023

AfrOil PIPELINES & TRANSPORT AfrOil

Danish oil tanker hijacked by

pirates off west coast of Africa

REGIONAL DANISH oil company Monjasa reported los- Piracy in the Gulf of Guinea has been an
ing contact with one of its product tankers, issue for over a decade. Many countries have
the Monjasa Reformer, last week after the crew sent naval ships to protect commercial shipping,
reported the vessel was being boarded by pirates and though piracy has decreased since 2021, it
in the waters off the west coast of Africa. remains a significant security concern for opera-
The Liberian-flagged oil and chemical tanker tors. Denmark deployed a frigate in 2021 to pro-
was boarded by pirates on Saturday, 25 March, tect its shipping interests, but it was withdrawn
and all communications with the ship were sub- in 2022 due to the war in Ukraine. ™
sequently cut. All 16 crew members were able
to seek refuge in a safe room on board. The boat
was sitting idle in international waters at the
time of the attack, approximately 140 miles (225
km) west of Port Pointe-Noire in the Republic
of Congo (ROC).
“Three men took control of the ship and
since then the crew can no longer be reached,”
an official from the port told AFP.
The Monjasa Reformer is operated by Mon-
tec Ship Management, a Dubai-based company.
Montec reported the incident to a maritime
co-operation centre run by the British and
French navies that aims to ensure safety in the
Gulf of Guinea. Monjasa is co-operating with
various maritime authorities in the area, includ-
ing multiple navies, to address the issue. The Liberian-flagged ship was seized in the Gulf of Guinea (Photo: Monjasa)

EACOP Ltd says it’s making “good

progress” in search for funding

UGANDA/TANZANIA EAST Africa Crude Oil Pipeline Ltd (EACOP impact assessment (ESIA) conducted to Inter-
Ltd), the consortium formed to construct a national Finance Corp. (IFC) standards, which
1,443-km oil pipeline from Uganda’s Lake Albert have been done to satisfy lenders.
fields to the port of Tanga in Tanzania, says it has In September 2022, Saudi’s Islamic Devel-
made good progress in the search for 60% debt opment Bank (IsDB) announced financing of
financing required to complete the project, the $100mn, which was part of the Islamic tranche
Daily Monitor reported. for energy projects. The bank, in a statement,
John-Bosco Habumugisha, EACOP Ltd’s said the financing was to enable Uganda, a land-
deputy managing director, said cost estimates locked country to tap its oil reserves and emerge
for the pipeline stand between $3.5bn and $4b as a regional producer with export capacity to
with a 40% to 60% equity-to-debt ratio. He international markets.
said this while receiving an investment licence Efforts to secure financing for the oil pipe-
for pipeline-related activities from the Uganda line projects have faced opposition, with criti-
Investment Authority (UIA). cism coming from a range of non-governmental
“The investment licence speaks to the inves- organisations (NGOs) and other groups. Some
tors that we are looking for at a global level for critics of the projects have sought to block con-
the financing of the project,” Habumugisha said. struction by filing civil lawsuits and publicly
He noted that it complements other milestones advocating for cutbacks in financing over cli-
reached, such as the environmental and social mate concerns.

P6 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 13 30•March•2023