Thai Tanker Hijacked off Malaysia

An armed pirate gang hijacked a Thai tanker off Malaysia’s east coast and siphoned its cargo of oil on Thursday, August 28, the Regional Cooperation Agreement on Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery (ReCAAP) said on Friday.

According to ReCAAP, the group, comprised of six armed pirates, approached the unnamed tanker in a speedboat at approximately 10 p.m. local time as the vessel was underway some 30 nautical miles north of Pulau Tioman.

The tanker was heading from Singapore to Bangkok with 1,2096 tons of lube oil onboard when the incident occurred, according to the International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) Piracy Reporting Centre.

The pirates also robbed the crew’s personal belongings and damaged the navigational and communications equipment before leaving the vessel, the ReCAAP report said.

The ship and its crew, who were locked in the engine room during the syphoning, were released on Friday.

There were no injuries reported.