More hijacking incidents in S.E. Asia
New incidents raise the total number of ships hijacked to 16 since April.
More hijacking incidents in S.E. Asia
Although there has been little in the way of official confirmation, Maritime Security Review has learned of two further tanker hijackings in South East Asia this month, bringing the total so far this year to 16.
Yesterday, we reported via Vessel Finder that the crew of the hijacked tanker, MT Srikandi 515, had been rescued by Malaysian fishermen. They and the ship was hijacked on October 9th while en route to East Java with a cargo of palm oil. The crew were held for at least 13 days before being released in a life raft by their captors. There has been no sighting of the tanker since then.
We have also learned that the MT Suratchanya, a Thai-flagged tanker, was apparently hijacked on October 15th. According to the report we’ve seen, the ship was en route to Bangkok from Malaysia when it was hijacked by armed pirates in the Malacca Strait. The tanker was carrying 2100 metric tons of gasoline at the time of the incident. Reports state that the pirates siphoned off the cargo to another tanker before damaging communications equipment and escaping.
Details on both incidents remain scant at present, but it would seem that there has been no lull in pirate activity in Southeast Asia in recent weeks.
