RI tanker pirates sought by KL

RI tanker pirates sought by KL

KUALA LUMPUR (DPA): Police in Malaysia are seeking to
extradite and try 12 Indonesians who were arrested by Chinese
authorities for hijacking a Malaysian-registered oil tanker in
April, a report said yesterday.

The Star daily said local police were in talks with Interpol
and Chinese authorities to bring back the pirates, who had
allegedly hijacked the MT Petro Ranger, to face charges in
Malaysia.

"We plan to charge them with armed robbery and hijacking as
the crime occurred in waters off Mersing (about 200 kilometers
east of Kuala Lumpur)," the daily quoted a police source as
saying.

The Petro Ranger, which was carrying 11,000 tons of kerosene
and oil as well as 21 crew members, went missing on April 17 in
the South China Sea after leaving Singapore for Ho Chi Minh City.

Chinese port authorities stumbled upon the tanker, which had
been repainted and renamed, two weeks later off China's southern
Hainan island while its cargo was being discharged into another
vessel.

The Star said the ship's captain, Australian Kenneth Blyth,
lodged a police report at Mersing.

Police have begun taking statements from the crew, who were
unharmed, after the rescued tanker reached Singapore Tuesday.

The Petro Ranger is the third oil tanker hijacked in the past
six months in the South China Sea, where there have been numerous
attacks by pirates from surrounding islands in the area.