Navy arrests mutineers on Malaysian tanker

Navy arrests mutineers on Malaysian tanker

JAKARTA (JP): The Indonesian Navy arrested 10 alleged
mutinying crew members who commandeered a Malaysian-flagged
tanker, the MT Selayang, in Tanjung Berau waters off East
Kalimantan on Wednesday, Antara reported.

Balikpapan naval base commander Lt. Col. Agus Subagyo said the
suspects had not resisted arrest.

"The suspects are the crew of the ship and all are Malaysian
nationals," Agus said, adding that the tanker had been towed to
Balikpapan with the alleged mutineers still on board.

When boarded by naval officers, the ship had already changed
its name to Wang Yu.

The operation to capture the suspects involved a speed boat,
patrol ship, and a helicopter.

The arrests followed a call from the Malaysian Embassy in
Jakarta to the navy reporting that a ship belonging to a
Malaysian businessman had been commandeered by the crew and been
sailed into Indonesian waters.

"On Wednesday morning, the vessel was spotted around eight
miles from Balikpapan strait, near Sangatta, in East Kutai," Agus
said.

Preliminary questioning revealed that the mutiny took place
because the crew were not satisfied with the way the captain and
owner of the ship had been treating them.

The tanker, which was transporting gasoline, was hijacked on
June 19 shortly after it left the Shell refinery at Port Dickson
bound for Labuan in Kalimantan.

AFP quoted P. Mukundan, the director of the London-based
International Maritime Bureau (IMB), as saying that another
vessel, the Tirta Niaga, had been abandoned by mutineers but that
the vessel's captain was still being held hostage by them in
Aceh. (emf)