Tag: Malaysia

They attempted to rob a ship in the Strait of Malacca AFP reports that Malaysian maritime authorities have arrested and detained six alleged Indonesian pirates after they attempted to rob a ship in the Strait of Malacca early Sunday morning.Maritime Enforcement Agency chief, Admiral Zulkifli Abu Bakar, told AFP that the Indonesian suspects were located by patrol arms of Malaysian officials trying to board a merchant vessel near Singapore, off southern Johor.Bakar added that the suspected pirates took notice that they were spotted, and tried to flee on their boat. The Malaysian patrol vessel subsequently began to chase and fire warning shots at the men until they eventually intercepted the pirate ship.Bakar believes that the pirates came from a nearby Indonesian island called Batam and had intentions of robbing three ships, with two failed attempts earlier. He identified the suspects between the ages of 25 and 45.The Strait of Malacca connects the Pacific Ocean to the east with the Indian Ocean to the west.The International Maritime Bureau (IMB) released a statement in June alerting ships that there has been a recent surge of piracy between the coast of Sumatra and the Malay Peninsula, especially in the Strait of Malacca, citing ...

The ship was carrying1,600 tonnes of lubricant Two product tankers were involved in a collision nine nautical miles north of Malaysia's Tioman Island.The incident happened yesterday morning, said Malaysian news agency Bernama.The 19 rescued crew came from the 3,000-dwt Cendanawati built (1997) which was one of the ships involved, according to the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency.The ship was carrying1,600 tonnes of lubricant and the agency reported leakage from the vessel.The other tanker, the 5,000-dwt Cosmic 10 (built 2007), continued on its route.Rescued by a nearby ship, there were no injuries apart from Cendanawati's master who suffered a minor head injury, the report said.Source: Tradewinds

To move their VLCCs to Tanjung Pelepas or other nearby ports Malaysia has ordered Hong Kong-listed Titan Petrochemicals and other shipping firms using supertankers to store crude at the port of Pasir Gudang to relocate by the end of the month, industry officials said , although the reason was unclear.As many as eight very large crude carriers (VLCCs), which together can hold up to 16 million barrels of oil, are currently anchored off the port.The Malaysian government has ordered shipping companies to move their VLCCs to Tanjung Pelepas or other nearby ports, said an industry official using the Pasir Gudang port.Port authorities could not be immediately reached for comment.Titan Petrochemcials, which has the most supertankers anchored at the port, confirmed it was contacted by port authorities to move its vessels."Titan is committed to its FSU (floating storage unit) business and relocation is already in progress in agreement with our customers," said an official with the company, which has five VLCCs at Pasir Gudang.Malaysia allocates two-year operating licenses for shipping companies to anchor supertankers off the port of Pasir Gudang. The blocks, however, are sometimes rented out for a profit to other shipping companies."I don't know why they are being asked ...

Pirates stole two computers and some engine spare parts A Liberian-registered tanker was robbed by pirates while anchored off southern Malaysia early on Sunday morning.The tanker, Simon, was anchored 2.1nm south-southwest of Pulau Mungging, Malaysia when it was boarded by five pirates armed with machetes and handguns at 04-35hrs on Sunday morning. According to the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre the pirates stole two computers and some engine spare parts from the engine room, before escaping in a speed boat. None of the crew was injured in the attack. It is the second attack on a tanker in the area this month.Source: Seatrade Asia

Charged with firearms offences Seven Somali pirates were charged with firearms offences in a Malaysian court on Friday in a move that could see some of them hanged if they are found guilty in the first prosecution of Somali pirates by an Asian country.The pirates - three of who were 15-years old - were captured in January by Malaysian commandos after they attempted to hijack a Malaysian-owned chemicals tanker.They seven, wearing bright orange jump-suits, did not enter a plea after the charges were read in a court in the Malaysian capital of Kuala Lumpur and prosecutor Mohamed Aba Zafree said the 15-year olds would not face the death penalty as they were minors.The decision to prosecute came as pirate attacks hit a seven-year high in 2010, according to the Kuala Lumpur-based International Maritime Bureau which collates statistics on attacks, disrupting shipping lanes at a time when the price of raw materials has moved sharply higher.Pirates operating off the coast of Somalia have hijacked vessels in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden for years, making millions of dollars in ransoms by seizing ships, including oil tankers, despite the presence of dozens of foreign naval vessels.There were 445 actual and ...

Extended by 6 days Malaysian authorities have extended by six days a detention order against seven Somali pirates captured by Malaysian forces last month in a raid to free a hijacked oil tanker in the Gulf of Aden.A police spokesman told AFP that investigators need more time to complete their probe into the case, a historic bid by an Asian country to prosecute bandits operating off the coast of lawless Somalia."The extended detention is to enable police to complete their investigations," a spokesman from police headquarters in the capital Kuala Lumpur told AFP.The seven have been held on remand in Malaysia since January 31 when they arrived on board the tanker MT Bunga Laurel, which was seized by pirates along with its crew of 23 on January 20.The tanker was headed to Singapore with a cargo of lubricating oil worth more than $10 million when high-seas bandits armed with AK-47 assault rifles boarded and took control of the ship.Malaysian naval commandos from a vessel protecting shipping in the Gulf of Aden, along with a navy attack helicopter, responded to a distress call and captured the pirates after a brief firefight.A day later, South Korean forces captured another five pirates in ...

Nineteen crew have been detained in Malaysia A total of 19 crewmen from two marine tankers, including the captains, were detained for illegally transferring marine fuel off Kukup near Pontian.Muar marine police operation force commanding officer Asst Supt Nordin Osman said the tankers Arowana Barcelona, from Malaysia, and Ocean Samudera from Singapore, were brought to the Kukup Terminal on Wednesday.He said the vessels were caught for transferring fuel at 1.30pm some 2.8 nautical miles off Kukup."We were making our rounds when we spotted the two tankers next to each other."When we approached them, we saw the Malaysian ship transferring marine fuel into the Singapore ship," he said here yesterday.ASP Nordin said that about 50,000 litres of marine fuel worth about RM25,000 was transferred without approval and the crew was detained under Section 491(B) of the Merchant Shipping Act 1953.The crewmen, aged between 25 and 50, have been handed over to maritime authorities at Tanjung Pelepas near Gelang Patah.Source: The Star

Malaysia Incident Alert - robbers board a chemical tanker in 13 January The ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre issued an Incident Alert stating that a chemical tanker was boarded in the early morning hours of 13 January while anchored off Johor, Malaysia. The crew locked themselves in the accommodation room. When the crew came out about an hour later, the robbers were gone, after having inflicted minor damage to the ship.You may view the Incident Alert here.Source: ReCAAP Information Centre