Alondra Rainbow
In this case, we were instructed by hull, cargo and P&I underwriters to assist in the rescue of the crew and recovery of the ship and her cargo of aluminium ingots following a piracy hijacking incident off Sumatra.
The first challenge was to find the hijacked vessel. The pirates had a 3-day head start on us and had repainted the vessel and changed her name. We enlisted the support of the IMB and issued a reward for information leading to the recovery of the vessel, her crew and cargo. This led to a trickle of information from informants, which our Singapore and London offices (working together) assessed.
Sifting through this intelligence, and acting on information from the crew, who were washed up in a lifeboat off Phuket 10 days later, we found the ship still with half her cargo on board, collectively valued at about US$15 million. The vessel was off the west coast of India, so we liaised with the Indian Navy, who captured her on the high seas with no little drama; they fired on the vessel after seeking our clients’ authority and an indemnity!
The “ALONDRA RAINBOW” was then towed to Mumbai, where we supervised applications for the return of the property. The exercise lasted three months and led to the successful return of the ship and half her cargo. We then rendered assistance in the Indian prosecution of the pirate crew and had the satisfaction of seeing them sentenced to seven years hard labour.