Ships alerted to piracy threats

Ships alerted to piracy threats

KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Ships in Southeast Asia were alerted to renewed piracy threats yesterday after gun-wielding masked pirates hijacked a cargo vessel off Vietnam and escaped with its cargo last week.

The vessel, Lucky Trader, reported the pirates threatened the crew at gunpoint and took over the ship, said Beverley Brown, the London-based International Maritime Bureau's regional manager here.

After traveling for about 12 hours with the handcuffed crew, the pirates transferred the cargo of 7,400 cartons of cigarettes, valuables and communication equipment to another ship.

One of the crew members later freed himself after the pirates had abandoned the ship. No one was reported hurt.

The vessel returned to Singapore, where it had set sail on Feb. 13, to lodge a report on Sunday, Brown said. The owner of the ship was not immediately known.