Indonesian pirates plead guilty to hijacking tanker

Indonesian pirates plead guilty to hijacking tanker

Ten Indonesian pirates, caught after a botched attempt to hijack an oil tanker off northern Malaysia, have pleaded guilty to armed robbery and face up to 20 years in jail and whipping, officials said on Wednesday.

The men, ages 23-57, were charged with hijacking the Malaysian-registered Neptune Delima in the Straits of Malacca on June 14.

Police and naval forces laid siege to the ship and the pirates, armed with machetes, surrendered after 12 hours.

The court has denied bail for the 10 Indonesians from Aceh province, and has scheduled sentencing on July 10, court officials said on condition of anonymity.

Police have also arrested two crew of the tanker's crew members - also Indonesians - and a Malaysian businessman believed to have masterminded the pirate attack, the New Straits Times newspaper reported. Police officials were not immediately available for comment.

Police believe the pirates may have arranged international buyers for the 30,000 barrels of diesel worth about 12 million ringgit (US$3.2 million) on the vessel, which was bound for Myanmar. The ship has since resumed its journey.

The attack was the seventh this year in the Malacca Strait, a pirate-infested route bordered by Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore.

Piracy watch officials recorded 37 attacks last year in the waterway. Each year more than 50,000 vessels ply the strait, which links Asia to Europe and the Middle East and is a conduit for half the world's oil and a third of global commerce. -- AP