Malaysian tanker owner to pay $100,000 ransom for crew: Report
Malaysian tanker owner to pay $100,000 ransom for crew: Report
Agence France-Presse, Kuala Lumpur
The owner of a hijacked Malaysian oil tanker has agreed to pay a 380,000-ringgit (US$100,000) ransom for the release of three Indonesian crew kidnapped by armed pirates in the Malacca Strait, a report said on Thursday.
The New Straits Times said the ship owner was negotiating with the pirates, believed to be Indonesians, on conditions for the release of the captain and two crew of the M.T. Penrider.
"The owner has assured the hijackers the ransom will be paid as long as the crew members are released. The hijackers have also given an assurance that the men are safe," the paper quoted an unnamed source as saying.
A spokesman for shipping firm Progresif Cekap Sdn. Bhd., based in northern Penang state, told AFP the case was being handled by police and refused to comment.
Marine police commander Muhamad Muda said the pirates had asked for a ransom of around half a million ringgit and police were working closely with the ship owner to secure the release of the crew.
The M.T. Penrider, carrying 1,000 tons of fuel oil from Singapore to Penang, was attacked and robbed on Sunday in the Malacca Strait off Malaysia's Port Klang by gunmen armed with AK- 47 and M-16 rifles.
The captain, Djunaidi Nawai, chief engineer Hamdi and his assistant, Mangatur Siahaan, were taken hostage while seven other crew, five Indonesians and two Myanmar nationals, were freed to proceed to Penang with the ship.
Muhamad Muda told AFP police believed the attack was the work of the Indonesian rebel Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which operates in Sumatra island across the strait from Malaysia.
"Based on police investigation, we believe it is the work of the Aceh rebels. The modus operandi is similar to that connected to GAM," Muhamad said.
A crewmember known only as Amir was quoted by The Star newspaper as saying the six pirates were clad in fatigues and claimed they were Aceh fighters.
Muhamad said there was a possibility the hostages were being held on Pulau Jemur, off Indonesia's Sumatra island, or in the vicinity because it is near where the pirates struck.
The attack took place in Indonesian waters, he said. Some reports in local newspapers had suggested that it happened in Malaysian waters, which are considered far safer.
Marine police have stepped-up patrols along the strait and are checking all barter trade boats similar to the one used by the pirates, Muhamad added.
Noel Choong, regional director for the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in Kuala Lumpur, said such attack-and-kidnap cases were previously confined to the north of the strait and this was the first incident in the southern part.
"We don't know if it is the work of Aceh rebels or it is a new gang of pirates following the same modus operandi as in the north. We are worried it may be a new trend," he told AFP.
Choong said he had been informed that "the pirates were not only carrying M-16 and AK-47 rifles, they also had a grenade launcher," but Muhamad could not confirm this.
The IMB has warned seafarers to keep clear of Indonesia's war- torn Aceh coast on the strait and maintain a sharp antipiracy watch after eight attacks on ships in the area in the past four months.
There have been 22 reported cases of pirate attacks this year in the Malacca Strait, a narrow waterway slicing Indonesia's sprawling Sumatra island from Malaysia.
It is one of the busiest shipping lanes in the world, funneling 50,000 vessels a year between the biggest economies of the West and the East.