Indonesiann sailors suspected of piracy

Indonesiann sailors suspected of piracy

INCHON, South Korea (Antara): Fifteen Indonesian crewmen are
now being held in China for their suspected involvement in a case
of piracy involving the Tenyu, a Panamanian registered freighter
that was illegally renamed the SANEI-1, South Korean maritime
police said on Wednesday.

The Indonesian crewmen have been held by authorities in the
Chinese port of Jangjia for about one month for questioning.
During this questioning, the crewmen stated that they left the
Indonesian port of Dumai early in December, police said, Yonhap
news agency reported.

However, police added that investigators learned the crewmen's
statements were false after making inquiries to the Indonesian
government.

The Indonesian government informed Korean maritime police that
no vessel under the name of SANEI-1 departed from an Indonesian
port at that time.

Through inquiries to the London-based International Maritime
Organization, investigators also learned that the registration
number of the SANEI-1, 981114, was false.

The SANEI-1 is carrying 3,000 tons of palm oil, not the 3,600
tons of aluminum ingots listed on the manifest at the Indonesian
port of Kuala Tanjung, police said.

The shipper of the palm oil is reportedly a Chinese company.

An official with the maritime police said, "Given the
evidence, it would appear as though the Indonesian seamen are
directly involved in the Tenyu incident."

Two South Korean investigators, dispatched to China at the end
of last year, returned to Seoul last Thursday, having failed to
confirm the whereabouts of two Korean and 12 Chinese crewmen from
the Tenyu who are believed to have been killed by pirates.