By Marcus Hand from Singapore
The hijacking of the tanker Moresby 9 and the stealing of its cargo, was the third such incident to hit its owner this year, according ReCAAP Information Sharing Centre.
The Honduras-flagged Moresby 9 was boarded by nine pirates armed with machetes and pistols on 4 July in Indonesian waters near the Anambas Islands in the South China Sea. The crew were tied up and locked in the engine control room, apart from the chief officer who was forced to navigate the vessel.
The Moresby 9 was then met by a second vessel, an orange tanker of around 3,000 gt, and 2,118 tonnes of MGO transferred onto the second tanker in an operation that lasted about six hours. The pirates left stealing personal belongings and communication equipment, and the crew were unharmed.
The owner managed to re-establish contact with the vessel and asked the crew to sail to Johor in southern Peninsula Malaysia.
“The modus operandi of this incident was similar to the other siphoning incidents involving tankers occurred during January-June 2014, where the robbers armed with guns and machetes boarded the vessel, tied the crew and locked them in a room and siphoned the fuel/oil to another tanker which came along the vessel,” ReCAAP said.
It is the third incident of its type involving the same owner according to ReCAAP.
“Notably, Moresby 9 was owned by the same company of Naniwa Maru No. 1 , 3,238 gt and Ai Maru, 1,007 gt which were boarded on 22 April 2014 and 14 June 2014 respectively. Apparently, Moresby 9 was boarded in 2013, but siphoning was foiled by the presence of MMEA patrol boat at the location of the incident causing the pirates to escape without siphoning,” it said.
Via: http://www.seatrade-global.com
