A product tanker was hijacked by a group of armed pirates while underway off Indonesia.
Around 15-25 pirates armed with pistols boarded the tanker some 62nm North of Pulau Uwi, Indonesia, International Maritime Bureau’s (IMB) piracy reporting center informed.
Once on board, the pirates took the crew hostage and robbed their belongings. The group fled the scene shortly after they syphoned the ship’s cargo to another vessel.
The tanker in question is reported to be the 6,509 dwt tanker Dongfang Glory, owned by Malaysian-based Grolite Shipping. The tanker had 4,000 tonnes of petrol and 1,000 tonnes of diesel on board and was heading to Lebuan when it was hijacked.
As informed, all of the ship’s communication and navigational equipment was damaged before the group abandoned the tanker.
The IMB said that all of the 17 crew members were safe and that the tanker resumed its voyage to a safe port.
The ship was escorted by a Royal Malaysian Navy ship to Tanjung Po, Sarawak.
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World Maritime News Staff