Updated: Tanker missing in South East Asia

AIS off and no communication with ship.

Tanker missing in South East Asia

Various news sites report that the Teknogas, an LG tanker has gone missing at sea.

According to the reports, she was en route from Hai Phong, Vietnam, to Palembang, Indonesia and the last AIS position recorded was on June 8th in position 12:37N-109:34E, around 6nm off the Vietnam coast.

On June 10th at approximately 0230 UTC, the vessel issued a distress signal around 200nm South of Saigon in position 07:36N-108:00E. There has been no AIS trace since then and no other information from the ship.

Given the current spate of hijackings for fuel cargoes in the region, the natural assumption is that the vessel has been taken by pirates, although the location would make this a more unusual incident. We are currently awaiting reports from agencies in the region.

Update:

Vietnamese media reports that a technical fault may be responsible for the ship vanishing from AIS and it is now on course, heading for Indonesia.