India questions RI crew of pirated Japanese ship

India questions RI crew of pirated Japanese ship

BOMBAY, India (AP): Indian naval officers on Wednesday were questioning the 15 Indonesian crew members of a merchant ship they intercepted after a tip that it was pirated on its way to Japan.

Engineers were pumping water out of the engine room of M.V. Alondra Rainbow after the crew opened valves to flood the chamber in an attempt to sink the vessel when it was intercepted in the Arabian Sea, said Commodore M.P. Taneja, chief staff officer of India's western naval command.

"They are fairly hardened pirates and it will take awhile before we get anything from them," Taneja said in a telephone interview.

The Japanese-owned ship carrying aluminum ingots went missing after it left Indonesia on Oct. 22. It originally flew a Panamanian flag, but changed it to that of Belize when its 15 Filipino and two Japanese crew members were abandoned in Thailand, according to Rear Adm. Suresh Bangara, assistant chief of naval operations.

Fifteen Indonesians allegedly took control of the ship and it was spotted off India's southern coast on Saturday.

"When it refused to stop, an Indian navy ship opened fire on Tuesday," Bangara said.

A naval missile cruiser in the area was alerted and it fired an AK-630 cannon and a 76.2 mm gun, hitting the merchant ship.

Indian naval personnel took control of the ship 430 kilometers off the coast of the western state of Goa and extinguished the fire, Bangara said.

Bangara alleged that the crew had changed the name of the ship to Megha Rana, and showed it as being registered in Mexico. They made it appear that it was sailing from Manila to Fujairah in the United Arab Emirates.

The ship owner had announced a reward of US$200,000 to anyone providing location and helping the return of the vessel.