Armed Pirates Steal Oil Underway - Vessel Rescued #marsec #hijack

The ReCAAP ISC received a report about a piracy incident occurred on a Thai-flagged Product Tanker MGT 1. The tanker was underway from Rayong port, Thailand to Andaman sea where the incident took place at about 2100 hrs on 6 Sep 17 at 54 nm east of Kuala Dungun, Kuala Terengganu, West Malaysia, at position 5° 8.37’ N 104° 16.62’ E.

Initial investigation revealed that 13 armed perpetrators with two small fast boats boarded the tanker and forced the crew to transfer one million litres of diesel oil (out of 2.2 million litres contained in the tanker) to a mother ship.

The crew managed to activate the SSAS alarm.

The Malaysia Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA) dispatched two ships and a helicopter to the location and rescued the tanker at 0400 hrs on 7 Sep 17.

Ten perpetrators were apprehended and search for the remaining three perpetrators is on-going.

The tanker is now being escorted to Kuala Terengganu for further investigation.