UPDATED: Product Tanker Hijacked in South China Sea for Fuel Cargo; Second Boarding in Less Than A Year
HONDURAS-FLAGGED, Singapore-operated product tanker, Moresby 9, was boarded and hijacked by nine armed pirates at about 2015 LT, 4 July, approximately 34nm WNW of Anambas Islands, South China Sea. The second boarding of the vessel in less than a year.
UPDATE: Number of pirates; crew treatment; theft of cargo using unknown tanker; discovery of cargo stolen.
The Information Fusion Centre (IFC) alerted regional navies and enforcement agencies. The regional information sharing centre, ReCAAP ISC, worked with IFC and subsequently alerted regional maritime authorities in the area, including the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA). MMEA responded by stating that assets were on standby, however, noted that the location of the incident was outside of their area of coverage.
The Indonesian Navy (TNI-AL) reportedly deployed their ships to the location of the incident but was not able to locate Moresby 9 off Pulau Anambas. The last known position of Moresby 9 was in position 03:22.21N - 105:08.09E, approximately 36nm from Anambas islands (see map above).
The armed pirates hijacked the tanker, taking all crew members hostage and proceeded to damage the communications equipment.
Actions taken by shipping company
On 5 July, the shipping company managed to establish communication with Moresby 9, and instructed her to anchor in position 01:20N - 104:19.3E, approximately 3.9nm Southeastt of Tanjung Ramunia, Johor.
MMEA informed the ReCAAP ISC that while Moresby 9 was anchored there, a MMEA vessel, KM TEGAS boarded the tanker to conduct an inspection and interview of the crew. Initial inputs revealed that on 4 July at 0430 hrs, Moresby 9 departed for Hong Kong after loading 2,562,000 litres (2135 metric tons) of Marine Gas Oil (MGO) via ship-to-ship operation from MT Ocean Tanker, a Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) inside Tanjung Pelepas Port Limit.
Boarding & Cargo Theft
On the same day, at or about 2015 hrs, while the tanker was underway in position 03:45.93N - 105:10.24E, approximately 48.6nm Northwest of Pulau Anambas, an unmarked vessel, approximately 7 meters in length and described as a small fishing boat, came alongside Moresby 9.
The crew reportedly heard a gunshot and suddenly nine robbers armed with machetes and three pistols were sighted on the deck of Moresby 9. Two more shots were fired. The robbers wore headscarves, spoke Bahasa and were estimated to be between 35 to 50 years old. The crew were not injured.
The pirates gathered the crew on the starboard bridge wing, tied them up and locked them in the engine control room, except for the Chief Officer, who was detained at the bridge for navigation purposes. A total of six robbers went to the engine room while three others remained on the bridge. At about 2140 hrs, the tanker was forced to anchor in position 03:35.81N - 105:12.53E about 39.4nm Northwest of Pulau Anambas and the engines were turned off. At this point, the Chief Officer, who was on the bridge, allegedly noticed an orange motor tanker, approximately 3000 GT, come alongside Moresby 9.
The pirates forced the Chief Engineer and Bosun to restart the engines and pump; and open the cargo valves. After doing so, both were again tied up and locked in the engine control room with the remaining crew. Subsequently, they heard sounds leading them to believed that the siphoning process was carried out - between 2200 hrs on 4 July until 0400 hrs on 5 July, some six hours.
At or about 0514 hrs on 5 July, some of the crew managed to get out from the engine control room through the funnel, and untied the other crew in the room. There was no sighting of the pirates on deck or any vessel alongside Moresby 9. Upon checking the cargo, the crew discovered that an estimated of 2,542,000 litres (2118 metric tons) had been siphoned off. The pirates had also stolen the ship’s navigational and communication equipment, the crew’s personal belongings, and damaged the anchor windless and steering systems.
Past Incident
Moresby 9 was involved in a previous incident in August 2013. In that incident, 10 robbers, in two speed boats, coloured white and grey respectively, and armed with parangs and wearing face masks boarded the vessel approximately 1.8nm SE of Tanjung Ramunia, Indonesia. After boarding the vessel the crew were tied up in the mess room. The Master was ordered to get underway and, while sailing, the robbers made their escape over the port side of the vessel on sighting MMEA vessel approaching. No cargo was stolen on that occasion.
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, and Ai Maru, which were boarded on 22 April and 14 June respectively," ReCAAP went on to say.
Recommendation
ReCAAP ISC has reiterated the need for vigilance by seafarers when transiting the region following a spate of eight vessel hijacks over the last 3 months.
The Malaysia-flagged tug, Manyplus 12 went missing 9 July towing barge, Hub 18 in the South China Sea. The barge and the 11 crew members have since been found, but the tug has yet to be found. Masters and crew are cautioned that the tug may have been renamed, a common practice, and the possibility of it being used by pirates to approach other vessels, along with oil theft tankers, should not be discounted.
Original source: ReCAAP ISC/OCEANUSLive
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