According to ReCAAP ISC, during 25-31 December 2018, one incident of piracy of the Malaysian tug boat,’Magtrans II’ occurred, off Tambisan Island, Sabah, East Malaysia. In addition the report presents information on how the incident took place.
Specifically, while the tug boat was voyaging from Bintulu, Sabah to Papua New Guinea, four perpetrators that were armed with M-16 machine guns, boarded on the vessel from a small black boat, equipped with four outboard engines.
Continuing, the tug boat was boarded with 13 crew members, two Malaysians and 11 Indonesians.
When the perpetrators entered the vessel, they shot the master of the tug boat in the left thigh. When this happened, the crew attempting to save themselves, fired a flare gun to defend themselves, causing the perpetrators to escape from the tug boat.
In the meantime, no items were stolen.
The incident was reported by a nearby tug boat, April Dragon. The authorities recovered the wounded master and arrived at Tambisan Jetty, Sabah.
Concluding, the tug boat was escorted safely and arrived at Lahad Datu Marine Jetty on December 6, 2018.
