Malaysia Sends 11 Indonesian Pirates to Prison

Malaysian authorities have sentenced eleven Indonesian pirates each to sixteen years in prison following their failed hijacking attempt, the Jakarta Post cited undisclosed officials.

The men attempted to hijack a Thai-flagged oil tanker while it was sailing off the coast of Malaysia in early September.

The group of 13 perpetrators managed to board the tanker MGT 1 and force the crew to transfer one million litres of diesel oil (out of 2.2 million litres contained in the tanker) to a mother ship.

Ten of the pirates were captured and sentenced to jail, while the search was launched for the remaining three. A Malaysian court sent another individual, who led the operation from land, to prison.

At the time, the vessel was underway from Rayong port, Thailand to the Andaman Sea.

Asia’s piracy watchdog ReCAAP earlier said that the crew managed to activate the SSAS alarm and the tanker was soon rescued by the Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA), which dispatched two ships and a helicopter to the location.

World Maritime News Staff