New Year’s Day armed robbery attempt foiled on berthed car carrier in Casablanca

An armed robbery attempt on a berthed commercial vessel in Morocco on the first day of the new year ended in failure after the crew managed to fight off the perpetrators, leading to a number of arrests by local authorities.

The incident on the Singaporean-flagged pure car and truck carrier (PCTC) Viking Diamond occurred within hours of its arrival at the Port of Casablanca on Friday, January 1.

Although the perpetrators were reportedly armed with knives and clubs, the PCTC’s Ukrainian crew successfully fought them off, preventing them from taking anything of value off the ship.

The robbers fled the ship soon afterward. A number of suspects were subsequently arrested by responding Moroccan police and military personnel who arrived at the scene in response to the incident.

No injuries have been reported among the crew.

Viking Diamond‘s AIS track shows that it sailed out of Casablanca one day after the robbery attempt.