The issue of armed robbery and pirates at Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico are frequent, with criminal gangs targeting platforms and vessels operated by the state owned company.
A group of 10 armed pirates attacked a Campeche Bay oil platform at the Repompeo pumping complex last Tuesday, forcing crew including employees of Pemex and its contractor Eva to handover tools, Self- Contained Breathing Apparatus (SCBA)s and materials and The crew was not injured but the pirates forced them to move the goods and load three gateway boats.
Repompeo platform being the central infrastructure node for Pemex’s offshore operations with nameplate capacity of 800,000 barrels per day, is a re-pumping station for three major oil pipelines connects the Bay of Campeche’s offshore fields with a receiving station on shore.
Maxican navy’s maritime traffic control center was informed of the incident but they have not yet said anything. An increase in armed robbery and pirates at Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico is noticed in recent years.
In end of last month, a group of armed pirates attacked an offshore vessel, Crest Tarasco near Dos Bocas off Tabasco, obtaining equipment worth of thousands of dollars including communication equipment and 35 SCBAs. The armed pirates restricted the seafarers from fighting them by firing gun shots into the air leaving after 45 minutes of looting, according to the local news.
In another attack happened in late January, a group of pirates robbed the Ku Sierra platform in the Bay of Campeche, which is part of Pemex’s core Ku-Maloob-Zaap field complex. The pirates took off with communications equipment, 25 SCBAs, tools and other gear.
The robbery and pirates at Pemex in the Gulf of Mexico brings insecurity in the area growing fears for the integrity of workers working on boats as well as offshore platforms.
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