A syndicate is believed to be involved
A global maritime watchdog on Friday warned ships traversing the South China Sea bordering Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore following the hijack of three tugboats and a barge in recent weeks.
Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) piracy reporting centre based in Kuala Lumpur, told AFP alerts have been sent to ships in the area amid a sudden rash of hijackings.
“We are sending out this alert as these are the first three hijackings of vessels in the South China Sea this year,” he said.
“Normally pirates in the area are opportunistic as they rob a ship and flee but the hijacking of a vessel requires planning so we believe a syndicate is involved,” Choong added.
“As most bigger ships have transmitters on board that help authorities locate them, we believe that pirates in the area are hijacking tugboats which are small and so are not required to have such transmitters,” he said.
Choong said the latest incident occurred on June 1 when the IMB received a distress signal from an Indonesian tugboat off Batam island. Authorities were able to locate the vessel and detain the pirates.
However, they were not so lucky in the case of a tug and barge travelling from Kuching on Borneo island to Port Klang in Peninsula Malaysia, when the vessels failed to dock by May 30.
He said Malaysian maritime officials located the barge which was adrift in the South China Sea while a fishing vessel rescued the tug’s 10 crew members who were also set adrift in the area. The tug is still missing.
Armed pirates also hijacked another tugboat and barge travelling from Singapore to Cambodia, off Tioman island on March 24, with its 10 crew abandoned in the South China Sea in a raft. The tug and barge are also missing.
“We are urging ships to be on the lookout as unlike in places like Somalia, pirates in these waters abort their attack once spotted,” Choong said.
Seafarers have reported a surge in attacks by armed pirates in the South China Sea with 41 in the area since January, according to the IMB.
Source: AFP