Suspected pirates attack S'pore boats

Suspected pirates attack S'pore boats

MALAYSIA: Heavily-armed pirates have attacked two Singapore-
registered tugs in Indonesian waters of the Malacca Strait and
kidnapped four crew, a maritime official said on Monday.

"In the last five days, we had two incidents of pirate attacks
off Belawan in Indonesia. They have kidnapped the captain and
chief engineers of the two boats," Noel Choong, regional manager
of the International Maritime Bureau (IMB) in Kuala Lumpur, told
AFP.

In the first incident on Sept. 30, armed robbers, believed to
be Indonesians, boarded a tug and seized telephones and ship's
documents.

"They then kidnapped the captain and the chief engineer. Until
now we do not know their fate or where they are being detained,"
Choong said.

On Saturday, around eight heavily-armed pirates in a fast boat
fired at a tug before boarding it.

Choong said the pirates, believed to be the same gang that
carried out the first attack, again kidnapped the captain and
chief engineer and stole valuables from the 16-man crew of mainly
Filipinos and Thais. --AFP