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.