Full City is a Panama-flagged bulk carrier

Bulk carrier

A bulk carrier, bulk freighter, or bulker is a merchant ship specially designed to transport unpackaged bulk cargo, such as grains, coal, ore, and cement in its cargo holds. Since the first specialized bulk carrier was built in 1852, economic forces have fueled the development of these ships,...

 made infamous by running aground after an engine failure during a storm near Langesund

Langesund

is the administrative centre of the municipality of Bamble, Norway.The town of Langesund was established as a municipality January 1, 1838...

, Telemark

Telemark

is a county in Norway, bordering Vestfold, Buskerud, Hordaland, Rogaland and Aust-Agder. The county administration is in Skien. Until 1919 the county was known as Bratsberg amt.-Location:...

, Norway

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

, spilling 200 tons of heavy bunker fuel oil

Fuel oil

Fuel oil is a fraction obtained from petroleum distillation, either as a distillate or a residue. Broadly speaking, fuel oil is any liquid petroleum product that is burned in a furnace or boiler for the generation of heat or used in an engine for the generation of power, except oils having a flash...

 in a sensitive wildlife area on 31 July 2009. Full City was built by Hakodate Dockyard Co. Ltd. in Hakodate, Hokkaidō

Hakodate, Hokkaido

is a city and port located in Oshima Subprefecture, Hokkaido, Japan. It is the capital city of Oshima Subprefecture.Hakodate was Japan's first city whose port was opened to foreign trade in 1854 as a result of Convention of Kanagawa, and used to be the most important port in northern Japan...

, Japan

Japan

Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...

 in 1995.

On 5 May 2011, as part of NATO's counter-piracy Operation Ocean Shield

Operation Ocean Shield

Operation Ocean Shield is NATO's contribution to the anti-piracy campaign off the Horn of Africa, following the earlier Operation Allied Protector. Naval operations began on 17 August 2009 after being approved by the North Atlantic Council and involves warships primarily from the United States...

, the carrier Carl Vinson, the cruiser Bunker Hill, and the Turkish frigate Giresun

USS Antrim (FFG-20)

USS Antrim was the twelfth ship of the Oliver Hazard Perry class of guided-missile frigates. She was named for Rear Admiral Richard Nott Antrim...

 responded to a distress call from Full City. An Indian Navy

Indian Navy

The Indian Navy is the naval branch of the armed forces of India. The President of India serves as the Commander-in-Chief of the Navy. The Chief of Naval Staff , usually a four-star officer in the rank of Admiral, commands the Navy...

 Tu-142 maritime patrol aircraft located Full City, and while Giresun boarded the merchant vessel, Bunker Hill intercepted a dhow believed to be the 'mothership' for the pirate attack. Bunker Hills VBSS boarding party seized weapons and other equipment commonly used in piratcy, and the boarding party also sank a small skiff being towed by the dhow. Giresuns boarding party found Full Citys Chinese crew safe and in control of their ship.

External links

• Full City position tracker at Sailwx
  Sailwx
  Sailwx is an integrated maritime information service that aggregates worldwide ship locations into a single map. Weather conditions including ocean currents, wave height and tides are also available and can be integrated into ship location maps....
  
  
• Full City Daily Vessel itinerarie at MarineTraffic.com