Asia/Pacific News
Indonesian Navy Thwarts Oil Theft on Hijacked Tanker
The Indonesian Navy thwarted a planned oil theft and arrested nine suspects after it recovered the MV Hai Soon 12, an oil tanker that had been hijacked off Borneo while carrying an estimated 50,000 gallons of oil, according to local media reports.
Edi Sucipto, a Navy spokesperson, says a patrol ship was dispatched to locate the tanker after it disappeared from the Automatic Identification System (AIS) while transiting between Singapore and Dumai City.
The vessel is said to have eventually reappeared in the in the waters off Tanjung Puting having been renamed Aiso.
The navy is reported to have located and boarded the vessel, preventing the oil theft and arresting nine suspects, all of whom are said to be Indonesian.
Sucipto says the ship's 20 crew members and one passenger were all rescued and unharmed during the incident.
Just last week, the ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre (ReCAPP) released its latest report which covers incidents of piracy and armed robbery in Asian waters during April 2016, at that time, there had not been any incidents of tanker hijackings for oil cargo theft in Asian waters since September 2015.
Last week, Ship & Bunker reported that, in an effort to battle piracy and armed robbery incidents, including those targeted at tankers and bunker thefts, foreign ministers and chiefs of the armed forces from Indonesia, Malaysia, and Philippines agreed to participate in joint patrols the regions' surrounding waters.
