Hijacked Indonesian vessels found

Hijacked Indonesian vessels found

Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur

Thai navy and police have recovered two hijacked Indonesian vessels and arrested seven Myanmar nationals, the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) said on Thursday.

The arrests came just before pirates could repaint the boats to hide their identities.

Thai troops found the Sing Sing Mariner tug and the Kapuas 68 barge in the Gulf of Thailand on Monday based on information provided by the bureau's piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur, the IMB said in a statement.

"The intelligence received by the IMB indicated that the tug and barge of similar description were in the Gulf of Thailand and they were in the process of changing their identity" to Tyson and Tyson V, the IMB said.

"This information was promptly passed over to the Thai authorities who boarded the vessel and detained seven Myanmar nationals found on board."

The Sing Sing Mariner was towing the Kapuas 68, laden with 3,000 tons of crude palm oil valued at US$1.6 million, when it was seized by four hijackers on Feb. 9 in the waters off Indonesia's Bintan island, it said.

The cargo was heading to Butterworth in Malaysia's northern Penang state from Kalimantan in Indonesia when it was seized. Crew members were abandoned on an island and later rescued by a passing fishing boat.

At least 12 tugs and barges have been hijacked by criminal gangs in Southeast Asian waters last year, mainly because they move very slowly and were deemed easy targets, the IMB said.

Singapore's Coordinating Minister for Security and Defense Tony Tan earlier this month warned pirates could link with terrorist groups to mount attacks on ships, especially in the Malacca Straits, a vital global shipping lane straddling Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Tan said piracy has "entered a new phase," with recent attacks in the strait conducted with almost military precision by people with well laid-out plans and armed with sophisticated weapons.

A major attack in the Malacca Straits, which links the Indian Ocean to the South China Sea and the Pacific, could affect global shipping as half of the world's oil and a large part of global trade and commerce pass through these shipping lanes, he added.