Asia/Pacific News
Another Attack at Singapore, Malaysia Border Waters
At 10:30pm on Saturday eight men armed with machetes and a gun attacked a Mongolian registered tanker said to be carrying some 7,000 metric tonnes of marine fuel oil about 0.1 nautical mile from the Malaysia-Singapore border waters, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) has said in a statement.
MMEA southern region enforcement chief First Admiral Adon Shalan said he believed the pirates were attempting to steal the fuel from the MT Bintag as per a similar incident involving the MT Scorpio earlier in the month.
MMEA said it was alerted to the incident at 10.45pm and responded by sending a boat to the tanker, but as they approached the pirates used a wooden speedboat to flee with laptops, mobile phones, and cash belonging to the crew.
Initial investigations were said to have revealed that the pirates boarded through the ship's bow and attacked the engine room staff before tying up the crew of 14 Myanmar and two Sri Lanka nationals.
Adon said the MMEA was actively looking for the group, which he believes was responsible for both the MT Bintang and MT Scorpio incidents.
Marine and Port Authority of Singapore last week issued guidance on the use of armed guards on Singapore-registered ships.
