BINTULU
AUTHORITIES are on the lookout for a group of pirates who made off with a million litres of diesel from a tanker in waters off here last Saturday.
Armed with parang and hammers, the group climbed the 100m-long tanker and held 23 crew members hostage for 10 hours at sea, about 150km off the town’s coast at 11pm.
Investigations by the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) found that the group used two boats — a long boat and a bigger vessel — that could carry nearly a million litres of fuel.
Bintulu MMEA chief Commander Mohd Sufi Mohd Ramli yesterday said the Malaysian-registered tanker MT Budi Mesra Dua was on its way to Labuan from Singapore when the pirates approached it on the long boat with two outboard engines.
“There were about 10 of them who boarded the tanker by climbing the sides of the ship and they were armed with parang and hammers.”
After seizing the vessel, the pirates locked 22 crew members in a cabin but the captain, however, was told to stay on the bridge to keep the tanker moving.
The pirates were heard speaking in different languages, local and foreign, Sufi said.
“They then transferred the diesel onto another vessel that approached later.
“The pirates also took the crew members’ belongings, such as cameras, mobile phones, computers, shoes and clothings.”
Sufi said the pirates spent about 10 hours on the tanker before fleeing at 9.30am the next day.
“Before they left, the group destroyed the tanker’s radio and some of its navigation equipment. This prevented the captain from making an emergency call.”
The 39-year-old Filipino captain later managed to sail the vessel to Labuan and informed the shipping company before a police report was lodged on Monday.
The police then reported the case to the MMEA.
“All security agencies have been alerted on the pirates who may be trying to offload the one million litres of diesel.”
This was not the first incident that occurred here as a similar case was reported around the same area in August last year, involving a vessel named MV Warisan Lima.