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.