Indonesian Warship Intercepts Granite Pirates in Riau's Geram Strait

Indonesian Navy warship KRI Alamang-644 has successfully thwarted an attempt to steal granite in the waters of Selat Gelam, Karimun, Riau Islands. Commander of KRI Alamang-644, Lieutenant Colonel (N) Rudi Sulistiyanto, stated that the success stemmed from identifying an Indonesian-flagged vessel TB SOL 1006, which was transiting with a load of granite from Tanjung Balai Karimun to Singapore, on Thursday night (2/4). “At 19:30 WIB, KRI Alamang-644 received information via radio about a suspicious vessel attached to the barge TK BAC 2302 being towed by TB SOL 1006,” said Rudi in his statement in Tanjungpinang on Sunday. The vessel was suspected of stealing granite cargo at sea at the reported coordinates. Following up on the information, KRI Alamang-644, which is part of the BKO Guskamla Koarmada I unit in Operasi Cakra Wira-26, immediately moved to the location for inspection and arrived around 19:50 WIB. KRI Alamang-644 then conducted a visual identification and found a small vessel on the left hull of the barge TK BAC 2302. Subsequently, a pursuit, capture, and investigation were carried out on the suspected vessel. At 20:20 WIB, the team successfully secured the vessel and conducted further checks. “The inspection revealed that the vessel was KM Melina loaded with granite, without official documents, and evidence was found on board,” he revealed. Rudi continued that the vessel, crewed by five people, is strongly suspected of stealing granite cargo at sea. KM Melina along with all its crew have been secured at the Tanjung Balai Karimun Naval Base (Lanal) for further investigation.