ID :
360726
Thu, 03/19/2015 - 06:55
Auther :

MMEA Recovers Malaysia's Missing Ship

JOHOR BAHARU (Johor), March 19 (Bernama) -- A gang of pirates siphoned off 1,500 tonnes of marine fuel from a Malaysian ship and transferred it to another vessel about 74 nautical miles northeast of Pulau Bintan in Indonesian waters on March 10. The seven pirates, armed with guns and machetes also robbed the 10 crewmen, including nine Indonesians, of their cash and belongings before the ship was located, the following day in the waters, about seven nautical miles southeast of Tanjung Labuh, Batu Pahat (Johor). Investigations revealed the ship was carrying the marine fuel from Singapore on March 9 and was headed towards Labuan when the pirates attacked. In a statement Wednesday, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) said the Malaysian ship lost contact with its company on March 10. MMEA operations director (southern region) Maritime First Admiral Ibrahim Mohamed said upon receiving a report on the missing vessel, the MMEA deployed a speed boat and a patrol ship in a search and rescue operation. He said the crew aged between 25 and 60, were found safe. "According to the crew, the pirates armed with guns and machetes tied them and hijacked the ship to a location to meet with another ship of unknown identity," he added. -- BERNAMA

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