Pirates hijack chemical tanker

Pirates hijack chemical tanker

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Gunmen armed with rocket launchers stormed a chemical tanker
in the Strait of Malacca over the weekend in an unusually daring
attack, raising initial fears of a terrorist attack, an anti-
piracy center said on Monday.

Thirty-five pirates boarded the Indonesian-flagged ship MT Tri
Samudra, laden with an unknown flammable chemical, on Saturday,
briefly taking control of the ship before making off with the
captain and chief engineer who were being held for ransom, the
center said as reported by Reuters.

Spokesman of the Indonesian Navy Com. Malik Yusuf confirmed
the report, saying that the Navy was now searching for the ship
in a joint patrol with the Malaysian and Singaporean authorities.

But he told The Jakarta Post on Monday that the pirates could
be able to change the physical condition of the ship within two
or three days, thus making the search more difficult.

At the time of the attack, the ship was sailing for the
Indonesian port of Belawan in the strait, one of the world's
busiest sea lanes. More than a quarter of global trade and almost
all of Japan and China's oil imports pass through the strait.

"It's the first time they have taken control of a ship like
this for a long time... a couple of years maybe," said Noel
Choong, regional manager of the International Maritime Bureau's
piracy reporting center in Kuala Lumpur.

"The initial fear was of a pirate or terrorist attack."

He pointed out that pirates in the strait usually only seized
soft targets like tugboats that were slower and lower in the
water, making them easy to board, Choong said.

After the pirates left with the captain and chief engineer,
the ship sailed for the nearer Indonesian port of Dumai,
southeast of Belawan along the coast of Sumatra island, he said.
No one was injured in the attack.

"The (ransom) negotiations are underway," Choong said. He
declined to give any details of the ransom demand.

One of the nightmare scenarios envisioned by security experts
is where militants seize a tanker carrying highly flammable
liquid, such as the Tri Samudra, and ram it into a port.

The three countries policing the strait -- Indonesia, Malaysia
and Singapore -- launched coordinated naval patrols last year in
a bid to better secure the strait against piracy and potential
militant attacks.