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According to Malaysian marine police, five men – two of them armed with pistols and one with a machete – siphoned off two million litres of diesel from the Japanese vessel in the wee hours of Wednesday.

It is learnt that in the 1 am incident, the robbers also abducted three of the 18 crew of the ship which was on its way from Singapore to Myanmar with five million litres of the fuel.

Port Klang Marine Police commanding officer DSP Norzaid Muhammad Said said the robbers siphoned off the fuel to two tankers, taking between seven and eight hours to do, after tying up the crew including the captain.

“They then left the ship,” he said.

Malaysia Chronicle

Wednesday, 23 April 2014 07:36

SECURITY SHOCKER: Piracy off Pulau Ketam, Japan vessel robbed, 3 taken HOSTAGE

Written by Malaysia Chronicle

PORT KLANG – In another security fallout that is likely to further rock Prime Minister Najib Razak’s beleaguered administration, a Japanese vessel was robbed by armed pirates wielding pistols and machetes some 16 nautical miles off Pulau Ketam, a fishing village and weekend-tourist spot.

According to national news agency Bernama, the captain and crew did not suffer any injury but three of the 18-member crew were abducted.

“I hope Najib will accept responsibility and not blame the latest fiasco on anonymous quarters seeking to sabotage Malaysia-Japan ties,” Opposition lawmaker Tian Chua told Malaysia Chronicle.
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ndeed, it will be tough for the Najib regime to explain the latest breach in Malaysian security. The nearness of the piracy attack to urban Malaysian shores will be the greatest cause for alarm.

“We also cannot blame this on remote or difficult-to-man coastlines like those in Sabah or Sarawak. Pulau Ketam is part of Selangor, our most developed state. It is mind-boggling. I think it is obvious we are looking at a structural problem of weak governance, outdated processes, corruption, inefficiency and incompetence in our security institutions,” Tian added.

“It is a breakdown that must be addressed by the federal government because these shortcomings have become so obvious, investors and tourists are already thinking twice about choosing Malaysia while the bad hats from around the world will be encouraged to come here and create havoc because they know there are loopholes and weaknesses they can exploit.”

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NST photo

Japanese oil tanker robbed, 3 kidnapped

PORT KLANG: Pirates, armed with pistols and parangs, robbed a Japanese oil tanker before kidnapping three of its crew at 21.8 nautical miles off Tanjung Karang near here on Tuesday.

The pirates approached the vessel in a speedboat at 1am while it was sailing from Singapore to Myanmar.

Marine police Zone 1 commander Assistant Commissioner Mohd Yusof Abdullah said eight masked men, armed with two handguns and several parang, climbed aboard the vessel and held its 18 crew members hostage.

“The pirates started pumping diesel from the tanker into their boat. They took three Indonesian crew members and the crew’s belongings and identification documents, before fleeing,” he said.

Yusof said the crew was made up of men from Thailand, Indonesia and India.

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