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