The dramatic tale of how the Brillante Virtuoso was boarded by pirates and destroyed by an engine-room explosion and fire in July 2011 is being retold in a UK high court trial that began this week.

On one side of the civil action is Greek shipowner Marios Iliopoulos’ company Suez Fortune Investments and the vessel's financier, Piraeus Bank, who claim the ship suffered a pirate attack in the Gulf of Aden that led to the loss of the 1992-built vessel and that they are owed $77m by insurers.