Pirates boarded the vessel, robbed crew and escaped
On Sep 22, eight pirates, armed with machetes and a gun, attacked chemical tanker Bintang off Tanjung Piai near the Malaysia-Singapore border.
Pirates boarded the vessel and tied up the crew, robbed them of everything having value, from cash to mobile phones, and then escaped in their wooden boat.
Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) believes the gang is behind other attacks and even hijacks, presumably this same gang hijacked tanker Sea Jade to attack tanker Scorpio on Sep 13.
Attack on Scorpio was thwarted by MMEA forces, but the gang managed to escape. Tanker Sea Jade was used as a shuttle tanker for MT Scorpio offloading.
MMEA believes the gang attacks tankers not to rob crews only, but to steal some cargo of the vessels as well, which is mostly bunker fuel, and later sell the fuel to other vessels in the area.
Source: Maritime Bulletin
