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)