ReCAAP reported over the weekend that the Moresby 9, a Honduras-flagged product tanker, had been boarded by an unknown number of assailants and that the owners had lost contact with her.
According to the report, the ship was carrying 2200 metric tonnes of Marine Gas Oil (MGO) when it was boarded on July 4th around 1938 LT in position 03:23:32N-105:08.09E. The Information Fusion Centre alerted regional navies and the Indonesian Navy deployed ships to the location of the incident but were unable to locate the tanker.
ReCAAP state that the owners have now re-established contact with the vessel but its position and what occurred during the hijack have yet to be revealed.
If confirmed as a hijacking for cargo theft, this would make it the latest in a string of incidents dating back several months, confirming that criminal gangs in the region are a genuine threat to tanker movements in these waters.
